Schizophrenia and religion?

Question

I have paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. One of my symptoms is religiosity. I have learned to cope with this problem by compartmentalizing all religion and spirituality in the "I don't have a clue" section of my brain. I used to be devoutly Christian but now I am agnostic. How important is spirituality or religion to mental health?

Answer 1

Spirituality is important for both your mental and spiritual health, weather you realize it or not. However you can not fake something if you do not believe in it, just because you are thinking that is how someone in your situation should act.

By the way, turning to religion is not a symptom, I don't know who told you that, a professional never would.

If you are agnostic, you have nothing to do with religion, you simply believe in a higher power, which is great if you think that's what you need in your life.

Your medical condition would more than likely require drugs perscribed by your doctor, where as your spirituality is something that will hopefully help you on a certain level as long as you really believe in it and achieve some kind of fullfillment from it.

I can't tell you what to believe, nobody can, however spirituality is one of the major ways of getting in touch with your inner self and with a higher power and hopefully finding some peace.

I wish you the best of luck.

Answer 2

Some say that mental health relies upon one's belief in support from a diety. Some people, some very smart people too, say there are no dieties, and it's all hog wash. But when you can hear eternity whisper in your ear, when you get a disassociative sensation from looking at a Starry Night, the talk about there being no Diety becomes moot. The problem is that these feelings, the sense of someone talking back to you when you ask what is best, these feelings are the basic ingrediants of true madness. You must balance what you wnat, what you wish to be true, with cold, rational physics. This universe may or may not have a intellectual creator, but this universe was put here on purpose, for as near as we can fathom, it only had a 4 percent chance of becoming, at the moment of the big bang. Big time deity stuff. Knee jerk creation, or an exercise in pure power for reasons unknown. So we cannot trust our instincts on creators, and only the laws of physics can stand up to the test that they indeed, were manufactured by the Diety, cause we can't seem to break them. Be most careful when in the DNA echos of our past you see, and hear the hand of a diety., because while it could be true, and your vision maybe acute and accurate, it also must stand up to the test of physics and not be the delusions of one who desperately wants to know the whole story, and is not above making it up for a little color. Spiritual is free of the confines of religion, so I'd recommend you to follow your feelings, and things will turn out fine. If this was all created by a diety, and there was nothing prior to now, then all of this, and you and I are a construct of it's own corpus. Be kind to the living. know what I mean.?

Answer 3

My opinion is that is carries great importance. I am also Bipolar and since becoming a Christian, I am able to manage the sickness nearly medication free. God DOES heal if you have faith without doubt. If you don't have faith, you more than likely, will not be healed. Their are exceptions, such as prayer for children and infants where a single or group of persons who DO have great faith intercede with prayer and healing is granted. This can even apply to an adult, but sometime the lack of faith of the adult tends to stand in the way.

Its is great that you have a coping skill for the religiosity, but I find knowing and understanding the parts of my illness also help me to control any reaction or action regarding it. There are 6 dimensions to religiosity, where do you fall? Rather than not having a clue, wouldn't you rather understand why so that in your own mind, you can have closure? I know having to wonder about something drives me up the wall. Understanding and having a grasp in what I believe, in all walks of life, tremendously helps me to be stable. God gives me that stability as he gives me understanding and knowledge to find answers to the questions I have. You are agnostic by definition of.......? Sort it out, your a smart guy!

Answer 4

G-d will reveal Himself to you... in you just enjoying your life and keeping yourself from harm. See the G-d that may or may not exist in the way you can the best without making yourself sick or making things complicated for yourself.
Personally... I believe that spirituality is higher internal knowledge and a very saving and healing comfort that can be extremely important to your mental health. It is very healthy... as long as you have healthy ideas and beliefs concerning it, and are able to put it in a proper perspective. Just spending time in G-d's presence... in His love and healing comforting presence is way, way easier than the knowledge part... in my opinion... don't worry about the mental part, that always will come in time... (though it usually takes a lifetime for many of us, even for the well in mind) but focus on the spiritual... the healing.. the comforting presence. Do you know what the presence is like? Maybe you can remember... think back when you were devoutly christian. This is my attempt to describe it... It's like... the joy you feel when you look at a beautiful, baby... when you almost expect him or her to cry, but instead, smiles and gazes at you... the simplicity of just BEING... like standing on a dock and breathing the misty mountain air... the contentment you felt as a child, when you felt safe and loved and you believed everything would be good from then on... and the warmth you feel when you've helped someone who really needed your help. It's like all of that at once... but much more intense. So, just focus on the spirit of G-d, the knowledge of G-d will come later and in time.

Answer 5

I actually don't think there is any such thing as an agnostic. Okay, there is, but it is an intellectual category that has no practical meaning. What is important is how we live our lives. How does an agnostic live any differently than the atheist? It would be the same for the theist who never seeks God.

There is an air of intellectual dishonesty about the agnostic. It's hedging the bets. The agnostic never denies God and when he/she dies and comes before God, the agnostic plans to blame God for not providing enough evidence. But we know that God, if He exists, is not going to be fooled.

So yes, that kind of intellectual dishonesty can have an effect, I would think, on one's mental health. Christianity says to seek God, not form some intellectual position.

Answer 6

Usually a patient with both symptoms of Bipolar disorder and paranoid schizophrenia would be given the diagnosis of Schizoaffective disorder. Your ability to express yourself spiritually has suffered greatly due to your mental illness and it is important that you are allowed to fulfill your spiritual needs while keeping watch on all your behaviors that let you know you are becoming hyper-religious again. Keep a journal of your behavior when enjoying your religious practice and also keep a list of past behaviors which were indicative of decompensation. You can enjoy your spirituality and it is important in your recovery as well, but remember to develop checks along the way to know when you are becoming ill again. Also, most important, keep all clinic appointments and take your medication as part of your recovery and spiritual maintenance.

Answer 7

I had an enlightened teacher once who said that schizophrenia is the classic path to enlightenment. He also said that the only difference between himself and a full-blown schizophrenic was his orientation towards people. Meaning that he lived for other people and schizophrenics lived for themselves. Does that mean that they are more selfish than so-called normal people? Not at all, it means that there's a difference in level of consciousness with the schizophrenic person and the normal person. I know this for a fact because I used to live with a schizophrenic woman and she definitely was more expansive than normal people.

Me personally, I've lived with bipolar disorder for 45 years and I also became involved with spiritual teachers when I was 28 and I am so thankful that I got involved because it gave me a larger framework to work with as far as understanding the human mind and the larger picture of life.

Answer 8

Whoever God is, He's not going to give you anything you just can't handle. Your disabilities are not your fault. They confuse you about rules and definitions. No need to get tripped up trying to "guess the right God" to believe in. It sounds like you miss God, so just reach out to Him. Try forming a relationship with Him as Someone you don't fully understand yet. No need to worry about the details at this point.

Answer 9

it is important, of course, but the way to become real believer is full of temptations...your question shows that you are on the right way...and probably many of today's Saint's would have such diagnosis if psychiatry existed...what is your impression do the psychiatrist 'have a clue' or only folders as schizophrenia?

Answer 10

It has a calming effect and can provide a more positive outlook. Believing there is an afterlife and you are slated for heaven changes your thought patterns immensely. The biggest difference is in the suicide rate, naturally.