Serious mental illness. Your thoughts?

Question

I am not looking to antagonize anyone!!

I am curious what people of different faiths (atheism, agnosticm included) think about serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia, manic-depression, major depression. Could you include your faith so that I can get that idea?

Answer 1

I find it hard to believe that you are not doing this to antagonize or to push buttons......

I think that any type of serious mental illness should be handled by those who are more educated and have the knowledge to deal them.
A mental illness does not define a person, nor their spiritual beliefs. It is a medical condition that needs treatment.
There are some diseases, such as alcoholism and addictions, that are defined to be an obsession of the mind and an allergy of the body. And if one goes with that belief, the only apparent "solution" to that problem would be, in my opinion, a 12-step program. This seems to have been working for people for almost a century now. The 12-step program claims, that we are spiritually bankrupt. That once the spiritual malady is overcome, then the physical and emotional will follow. Where I have found this to be true, there are still those in recovery who suffer from depression, mania, etc...and need medical treatment, and medicines to stabilize them.
Either way, any and all of it is a sickness. And not one suited for "religion" to cure.

I do not take part in "organized religion"...I consider myself an eclectic solitary pagan witch.

And you....?

Blessed Be
)o(
Trinity

Answer 2

It might be a bit hard to understand.
I think all of the mental illnesses are really terrible mental illnesses. I do not think the idea of them being Satanic helps at all. I realize that most of them are not actually curable even though they might be treatable or controllable. Some of the disorders are actually just really poor thinking strategies. Others are actual measurable biological disorders.

I see quite a few people with serious manic and depressive episodes. The Bipolar thing. Those people seldom seem to live much past 40. They often end up as suicides or dead from living on the streets of our cities. I have also seen shizophrenics who were so far out of it that they could not tell what year they were living in.

I think there are many disorders like clinical depression and low order Bipolar that are definitely under diagnosed in our society. The people are still quasi functional so they are never examined for the illness. Even when they are performing at borderline levels they are missed. Part of the problem is that it is just not recognized. If it was a broken leg the people around them would notice but since it is an invisible illness nobody notices. As a result they are untreated and stand a good chance of being the next suicide victim or mass murder rage killer.

We need to quit tagging mental people with things like lazy or moody and start treating mental disease like any other major illness.
Much more money into research and treatment.

We have come a long way from when we believed in Demonic possession and religiously beat the devil out of the insane people.
We have a bit further to go yet.

atheist

Answer 3

a very old belief that has not fully gone away is that mental illness and any illness is a punishment from god/the gods. it might be seen as being the result of demonic possession.

this can be seen in the new testament , in the "madness" of some of those that Jesus healed by making the unclean spirits come out of them.

an agnostic could believe god is punishing them by making them mentally ill or that it is due to demonic possession since an agnostic person does not deny the existance of god.

an aetheist would believe psychological explainations such as biological (ie - chemical imbalance, brain injury), behavioral (people learned to behave a certain way and the maladaptive behavior was reinforced), social (resilience, risk factors, protective factors, social support, vulnerability), cognitive (maladaptive thinking is at the root of mental illness), etc.

some religions believe in psychological explainations for mental illness (ie - catholicism).

perhaps you could be a little more descriptive and clear as to what your question is and then we can give you better answers. :-D

hope someone can answer your question.

Answer 4

Sometimes they're defects of the brain. Sometimes it's caused by evironmental factors, like growing up in an abusive house. There's many different reasons a mental illness manifests. It's not a punishment from some god for something done wrong. I was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, and I resent the fact that some people who have no understanding of basic psychology telling me that I'm being punished for sinning.

I am an Atheist, and I am also a pychology major in school.

Answer 5

I feel that mental illness is an interesting discussion point in terms of religious views. Can a mentally ill person who doesn't understand their own actions sin? Biomedical evidence has shown physical evidence of diseases like Schizophrenia and there is no excuse from some (very ignorant people) who try to claim mental illness doesn't really exist (yeah, fundamentalists do say this sometimes).

Answer 6

I am a Christian...I do not think that these illnesses are a product of demonic presence or anything like that. I know they are caused by chemical imbalances, in the brain. They could, also, be brought on by tramatic events, in a person's life. I do believe in the power of prayer, to help. I, also, know that God put certain resources, on this earth for people with mental illness to have the help they need.

Answer 7

I don't really have a religion. I guess you'd call me a type of Pagan since my beliefs are nature-oriented.

Anyway, I believe that mostly these things are the result of bad conditioning, not enough love, eating badly, etc. Sometimes people are really born with chemical disorders that require the need for treatment to be able to live like others. But I believe a lot of the time these are not the illnesses but the symptoms.

Answer 8

I believe that serious mental illnesses are (depending on the illness) caused by psychological stressors and biochemical factors. I do not believe that there is a supernatural element to them in the sense of demonic possession or the like.

I am Wiccan, and because I have treatment-resistant depression myself I have a good layman's knowledge of psychology and psychiatry.

Answer 9

Hindu/spiritual

depends each person is different

1.there is spiritual possession, by stupid ghosts and demons

2.people with a closed heart center ,and arnt happy get depressed

3.manic/depression,posibly are over sensitive to the changing seasion,and external vibrations.

4.when you visualize talking to other you get into a altered state, the mind thinks the conversation is real,then you put anger with it, and you can get to the edge were ,you think the conversation is real and you cross offer to the other side,

once there you think that reality is real and this reality is not real,...you have gone nuts and lost your mind.you cant relay lose your mind, but you can go deep enough onto a [TRANCE LIKE STATE ] you forget , you regular waking state.like sleep walking,
_________________

the worst thing you can do when you are out of control is to take psychiatric drugs to make you MORE OUT OF CONTROL

all they are is CHEMICAL STRAIT JACK ETS, so psychiatrist can throw you in a deep hole and forget you

Answer 10

Well I have seen that when those people are christian the christians tend to think that they are not sick. I'm agnostic and think people with mental health problems need help. But some people encourage it in some believes. Sad really.