Is there a sharp line between mental illness and spiritual attack?

The prevailing wisdom seems to think a sharp line can be drawn between so-called mental illness, on the one hand, and spiritual attack on the other.

A good example of this can be found here:

https://eptoday.tumblr.com/post/763681091616964608/help-for-exorcists-how-a-new-york-psychiatrist

and here:

https://eptoday.tumblr.com/post/763677702701072384/the-mainstream-psychiatrist-who-confirms-demonic

I think it's admirable that Dr. Gallagher tries to help people and share his stories about the alleged phenomena of demonic oppression and possession. But it seems he's still a bit too close to the American psychiatric way of seeing things. And the clergy, being the regimented and conventional thinkers they appear to be, naturally follow suit. They probably do so for political and economic reasons too. Catholic clergy are not dumb and are fully aware of the reality of lawsuits if they don't adhere to socially acceptable protocols.

But socially acceptable worldviews and procedures are not always right and can usually be improved upon.

Image - images.app.goo.gl...

We are all works in progress. Nobody is perfect, without sin or psychological issues. So I entertain the possibility that evil may prey on our weaknesses. That would mean we're all open to attack, not just random "healthy" individuals as Dr. Gallagher puts it. And these attacks can vary in character and severity. As with any kind of warfare, the enemy always tries to identify and exploit our weaknesses to its advantage.

Dr. Gallagher's book, Demonic Foes, makes a distinction between the "psychotic" who is medically ill, and the "healthy" person who is spiritually troubled. According to Gallagher, the psychotic's voices and delusions are from the illness, while the healthy possessed person receives information and behaviors from the devil.

Myself, I don't think it's that cut and dried and tend to see things more in terms of a continuum. But again, I'm not surprised the Catholic church would rely on Gallahger's (at times) seemingly inelegant thinking. With the exception of perhaps one Monsignor, I have yet to meet any paragons of creative thought within the Catholic fold. And even if some priests and religious are thinking out of the box, they don't dare say so if they want to keep doing what they are doing and continue to enjoy their (economically) worry-free middle-class lifestyle, replete with what I call 'magic money' from the Church whenever major repairs or renovations are needed.

As far as I could tell, none of these sociological and political issues are touched on in Demonic Foes (not being overly impressed, I skimmed it in about 35 minutes). The book's mention of priests relying on Dr. Gallagher seems partly about reinforcing his legitimacy among a status quo that ironically loves the paranormal in fiction yet is not always convinced it exists in real life.

What do you think? Demonic Foes is in our local library in regular print and e-formats and probably appears in any major city library. Despite my reservations voiced above, I think it's worthwhile to at least check out.

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The YouTube video shows how the evil Sauron manipulates the otherwise noble Celebrimbor by playing on his weaknesses.