Whether one believes in demons or not, I think that it can be said with certainty that their principle manifestation, their principle practical effect, is fear. Even if they are artifacts of unconscious processes, unprocessed contents of our deep past and hidden wisdom, what “they” do is create fear.
And it seems to me that a great many of us deal all our lives with a sort of blackmail in the dark, in which the “agent” of some hidden suffering meets with the “agent” of our agentive consciousness in a back alley somewhere, and makes a deal where, if you–the decision making mind–engage in these self defeating behaviors, it–that part which knows what is hidden–will keep all these secrets from emerging.
And thus fear, and more importantly fear of fear, pushes us around forever. It is only when you are willing to go deep inside and confront these things directly that you can begin to be free, which is to say, free to make decisions which are not conditioned by fear, and which are truly congruent with what is healthiest and best for you.