Early Puritan ministers and later Protestant clergy agreed on the same symptoms for declaring a person demonically possessed. In many incidences there was a complete ignorance of the person's medical condition and behavior. Occasionally there may be signs of automatic writing or levitation . Many of these signs or symptoms can be explained away by modern medical science. Seizures and convulsions are symptoms of epilepsy.
Personality changes can indicate hysteria, or schizophrenia, or other psychological malfunctions.
Lewd and obscene acts can indicate mental disorders. Having sexual thoughts, if taken seriously as a sign of demonic possession, would indicate nearly all of the modern population is possessed, especially the men. Distended stomachs can indicate malnutrition and other medical disorders. Also, having knowledge of future events or information is known as clairvoyance by many occultists and Neo-pagan witches which they consider a special spiritual gift. In light of such evidence it seems the term demonic possession is hardly functional anymore.