Short answer
Usually not. Mainstream Sunni scholars accept that jinn and magic can harm people, but depression, anxiety, OCD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and similar conditions are illnesses with known treatments. Blaming them on jinn often delays care and can lead to abuse. See a doctor, keep up ruqyah and dua alongside treatment, and avoid anyone who beats, starves or isolates a patient.
Belief that jinn can affect a person by Allah's permission is accepted, but diagnosing it without clear signs is not. Seeking medical treatment for mental illness is permitted and encouraged, and any 'treatment' that harms the patient's body or dignity is haram.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
A woman came to the Prophet ﷺ and said she suffered from seizures and became uncovered during them, and asked him to pray for her. He said: if you wish, be patient and you will have Paradise, or if you wish, I will pray to Allah to cure you. She chose patience, and asked only that she not become uncovered, and he prayed for that. Ibn Abbas pointed her out as a woman of Paradise. Her illness was a test, and her reward came through patience.
Many conditions once blamed on spirits, such as epilepsy, psychosis, severe depression and OCD, have physical and psychological causes and respond to treatment. The Prophet ﷺ told people to seek treatment, because Allah has sent down a cure for every disease. Not seeking it, or stopping prescribed medication because someone said 'it is jinn', can cause great harm.
Scholars do accept that possession and magic happen, so ruqyah has its place. But they warn against:
- raqis or 'amils who diagnose possession quickly and see it in every symptom
- beating, choking, burning, starving or chaining a patient: these are haram and have caused deaths
- keeping someone at home instead of hospital when they are a danger to themselves
- shaming the person or the family
The safest path is to see a doctor or psychiatrist, follow the treatment, and do ruqyah with the Quran and duas at the same time. If someone is in crisis or may harm themselves, contact emergency services. See Jinn in Islam and seeing a therapist.
Ask a mufti about your own case. This answer explains the general ruling. When the details of your situation matter, as they do here, ask a qualified mufti and give them the full facts. Where to ask a scholar.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Baqara 2:102
وَٱتَّبَعُوا۟ مَا تَتْلُوا۟ ٱلشَّيَٰطِينُ عَلَىٰ مُلْكِ سُلَيْمَٰنَ ۖ وَمَا كَفَرَ سُلَيْمَٰنُ وَلَٰكِنَّ ٱلشَّيَٰطِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ يُعَلِّمُونَ ٱلنَّاسَ ٱلسِّحْرَ وَمَآ أُنزِلَ عَلَى ٱلْمَلَكَيْنِ بِبَابِلَ هَٰرُوتَ وَمَٰرُوتَ ۚ وَمَا يُعَلِّمَانِ مِنْ أَحَدٍ حَتَّىٰ يَقُولَآ إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ فِتْنَةٌۭ فَلَا تَكْفُرْ ۖ فَيَتَعَلَّمُونَ مِنْهُمَا مَا يُفَرِّقُونَ بِهِۦ بَيْنَ ٱلْمَرْءِ وَزَوْجِهِۦ ۚ وَمَا هُم بِضَآرِّينَ بِهِۦ مِنْ أَحَدٍ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ وَيَتَعَلَّمُونَ مَا يَضُرُّهُمْ وَلَا يَنفَعُهُمْ ۚ وَلَقَدْ عَلِمُوا۟ لَمَنِ ٱشْتَرَىٰهُ مَا لَهُۥ فِى ٱلْءَاخِرَةِ مِنْ خَلَٰقٍۢ ۚ وَلَبِئْسَ مَا شَرَوْا۟ بِهِۦٓ أَنفُسَهُمْ ۚ لَوْ كَانُوا۟ يَعْلَمُونَ ﴿١٠٢﴾
And they followed [instead] what the devils had recited during the reign of Solomon. It was not Solomon who disbelieved, but the devils disbelieved, teaching people magic and that which was revealed to the two angels at Babylon, Harut and Marut. But the two angels do not teach anyone unless they say, "We are a trial, so do not disbelieve [by practicing magic]." And [yet] they learn from them that by which they cause separation between a man and his wife. But they do not harm anyone through it except by permission of Allah. And the people learn what harms them and does not benefit them. But the Children of Israel certainly knew that whoever purchased the magic would not have in the Hereafter any share. And wretched is that for which they sold themselves, if they only knew.
Unseen harm happens only by Allah's permission, and is not to be assumed.
Sahih al-Bukhari 5652
Sahih... إن شئت صبرت ولك الجنة وإن شئت دعوت الله أن يعافيك ...
"If you wish, be patient and you will have Paradise; and if you wish, I will pray to Allah to cure you."
Illness, even with seizures, is a test rewarded through patience.
Sahih al-Bukhari 5678
Sahih... ما أنزل الله داء إلا أنزل له شفاء ...
"Allah has not sent down any disease without sending down a cure for it."
Mental illness too should be treated.
Sunan Ibn Majah 2340
Graded sahih... لا ضرر ولا ضرار ...
"There is to be no harm and no returning harm."
Harmful 'exorcism' practices are forbidden.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Umdat al-Qari (al-Ayni), Kitab al-Marda, chapter on the virtue of one who suffers seizures. Explains the hadith of the woman with seizures and the reward of patience.
- al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, Kitab al-Karahiyya, chapter on treatment and remedies (al-tadawi wa al-mu'alajat). Treatment of illness is permitted.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.