Anneliese Michel was born in Bavaria, West Germany on September 21, 1952. Part of a devoutly Catholic family, she lived with her three sisters as well as their parents, Josef and Anna, in Leiblfing, a small rural town deep in the heart of Bavaria. There, she attended mass twice a week with her family. When she was sixteen, she suffered from a major seizure and was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy. In June of 1970, she was staying at a psychiatric hospital when she suffered a third seizure. Afterwards, she was prescribed the anti-convulsion drug Dilantin, a drug whose listed neurological side effects include an increase in suicidal thoughts and depression. A short time later, she began telling people that she was seeing “devil faces” randomly throughout the day. One month later, she was prescribed Aolept, a drug used in the treatment of schizophrenia.

By 1973, her depression began to increase. She also began complaining about hallucinations while praying. Not long afterward, she began hearing voices. The voices repeatedly told her that she was damned and would rot in hell. Seeing her psychiatric care as useless, Anneliese began to believe that she was actually possessed...