How do you suppose psychiatrists deal with people who are religious?

Question

Say you were a psychriatrist, you had a patient that believes that Mary or Jesus comes to him/her occasionally. Would this be considered a disorder? Or is there some kind of procedure to avoid these situations so that the psychiatrist does not diagnose the person because they are religious? I would suppose that there are religious psychiatrists out there, but say, from all psychiatric training, this would usually lead to a mental disease or disorder?

This is a harmless question, and I am not saying that religious people are psychotic, please do not answer rudely. Thank you.

Answer 1

MY cousin is a psychiatrist, she says those who LITERALLY see or hear Jesus or god have mental health problems, but those who feel the spirit( lol) are "OK"


Funny story of a guy she saw, he called her once worried that because when he entered the store Ralph's that the manager said over the speaker that Jesus has entered the building go and praise him, and that people went to praise him....

Answer 2

I doubt if very few people actually sees Mary or Jesus. That would be a hallucination and the psychiatrist would be obliged to consider a diagnosis of delusional or schizophrenia. I think many Christians feel the prompting of the Holy Spirit when they are seeking direction for a specific problem or when they are in a position of potential conflict with their beliefs. This would not be considered a delusion but rather a moving towards a closer relationship with God. There are many christian psychiatrists and psychologists. The two are not mutually exclusive. The purpose of a psychiatrist is to evaluate and recommend medication for people who have chemical imbalances and mental illness. The purpose of a psychologist is to help their patients by giving them tools that work to help them lead constructive lives by dealing with issues and learning how to relate well with others.

Answer 3

I think that anyone who claims to be speaking with God or that God tells them things (directly or indirectly) is a bit nuts and out of touch with reality.

Along those same lines, I think it is wrong to tell your kids there is an Easter Bunny or Santa. I think it is ok to pretend though. We can pretend and still belong to the land of the real.

Answer 4

not sure it matters unless their beliefs are part of the problem they are trying to work through. According to M Scott Peck - author of The Road Less Travelled, most people who enter therapy with religious beliefs tend to leave as athiests, and those who enter as athiests often leave believing God. This suggests that one way or another, people tend to see their beliefs, or lack of them, as part of their problems.

Answer 5

The same way they deal with everyone else.

Psychoses are not restricted to the religious, they are also quite prevalent among the non-religious.

Many studies have proven that many people of faith are more psychologically balanced than those who have no faith.

Many studies have shown that people of faith are happier in their lives and are healthier and live longer than those who are without faith.

Answer 6

Depends. Some aren't willing to look at how a person's religion can be part of the problem. That's sad, though. I think religion can be very damaging to people.

Answer 7

Arthur C. Clarke, like me, treats religion as a mental disorder. Quite rightly. It deludes, deranges, and drives people to bigotry and murder.

Answer 8

The same as they deal with other people, just less often.