Christianity and Mental Illness.

[seoulsearch]

Hey Everyone,

I was just wondering what people's experiences have been with Christians, or religious people, who suffer from severe mental illness and have a tendency to take it out on other people.

I was on a forum a long time ago and witnessed a young woman making long, rambling, religious-sounding posts continuously that constantly condemned other people. For the most part, it just made me angry. And then one day, another poster wrote something to the effect of, "Please forgive this young woman, I am a registered nurse who knows her personally and she suffers from schizophrenia."

I have to confess that this is now the first thing I think of whenever I read other posts of the same nature.

One of the most frustrating things to me is when people hide behind their religion and use it as a shield for their behavior.

Example: in my younger years, I had a friend whose mother was fanatically religious all her life but also deeply troubled, and my friend had physical scars due to her mother's religious rants (aka, beatings) and insistence that my friend must "pay for her sins." It was absolutely heartbreaking. She could never talk to her mother about anything that happened because her mother never apologized or acknowledged any wrongdoing--in fact, her mother said that anything bad that happened was my friend's fault because she "didn't listen to correction."

I have so many mixed feelings about these situations, whether the person is verbally, emotionally, or physically abusive. They don't realize it, of course, because they are too busy "doing the Lord's work" or "preaching the Word of God." You just can't reason with them and I know we're supposed to pray, forgive, and bless...

But I think it goes without saying that this is much more easily said than done.

Is it just me, or does it seem like we singles run into these kinds of people more often? (I seem to notice that people with these issues seem to often be single themselves... not surprisingly... and sometimes I am afraid that as I get older, I will become just like them.) Or do people like this just see us as more gullible and easier prey for such forms of abuse? As a single, I've had times where I felt especially vulnerable to these kinds of attacks.

What have your experiences been with such situations, and how have you handled them?

 

[NukePooch]

Honestly? I just view it like this.



[video=youtube;yGln8TNHn1Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGln8TNHn1Q[/video]

 

[arwen83]

Hey Everyone,

I was just wondering what people's experiences have been with Christians, or religious people, who suffer from severe mental illness and have a tendency to take it out on other people.

I was on a forum a long time ago and witnessed a young woman making long, rambling, religious-sounding posts continuously that constantly condemned other people. For the most part, it just made me angry. And then one day, another poster wrote something to the effect of, "Please forgive this young woman, I am a registered nurse who knows her personally and she suffers from schizophrenia."

I have to confess that this is now the first thing I think of whenever I read other posts of the same nature.

One of the most frustrating things to me is when people hide behind their religion and use it as a shield for their behavior.

Example: in my younger years, I had a friend whose mother was fanatically religious all her life but also deeply troubled, and my friend had physical scars due to her mother's religious rants (aka, beatings) and insistence that my friend must "pay for her sins." It was absolutely heartbreaking. She could never talk to her mother about anything that happened because her mother never apologized or acknowledged any wrongdoing--in fact, her mother said that anything bad that happened was my friend's fault because she "didn't listen to correction."

I have so many mixed feelings about these situations, whether the person is verbally, emotionally, or physically abusive. They don't realize it, of course, because they are too busy "doing the Lord's work" or "preaching the Word of God." You just can't reason with them and I know we're supposed to pray, forgive, and bless...

But I think it goes without saying that this is much more easily said than done.

Is it just me, or does it seem like we singles run into these kinds of people more often? (I seem to notice that people with these issues seem to often be single themselves... not surprisingly... and sometimes I am afraid that as I get older, I will become just like them.) Or do people like this just see us as more gullible and easier prey for such forms of abuse? As a single, I've had times where I felt especially vulnerable to these kinds of attacks.

What have your experiences been with such situations, and how have you handled them?

I'm a bit confused, are we talking about mental illnesses or religious fanatics?

 

[seoulsearch]

A bit of both, Arwen.

Often, they seem to be one in the same.

As you know, I'm not good at holding things in... Reading some of the posts here... the long, ranting, "you're all going to hell if you don't repent now" variety, and it's always EVERYONE ELSE who is in danger of the hottest hellfire, NEVER THEM, of course, always makes me wonder exactly how many personalities are speaking, and which one has current control of that person at the time.

Unless, of course, it's their only personality... which is all the more disturbing.

 

[zeroturbulence]

Hey Everyone,

I was just wondering what people's experiences have been with Christians, or religious people, who suffer from severe mental illness and have a tendency to take it out on other people.

I was on a forum a long time ago and witnessed a young woman making long, rambling, religious-sounding posts continuously that constantly condemned other people. For the most part, it just made me angry. And then one day, another poster wrote something to the effect of, "Please forgive this young woman, I am a registered nurse who knows her personally and she suffers from schizophrenia."

I have to confess that this is now the first thing I think of whenever I read other posts of the same nature.

One of the most frustrating things to me is when people hide behind their religion and use it as a shield for their behavior.

Example: in my younger years, I had a friend whose mother was fanatically religious all her life but also deeply troubled, and my friend had physical scars due to her mother's religious rants (aka, beatings) and insistence that my friend must "pay for her sins." It was absolutely heartbreaking. She could never talk to her mother about anything that happened because her mother never apologized or acknowledged any wrongdoing--in fact, her mother said that anything bad that happened was my friend's fault because she "didn't listen to correction."

I have so many mixed feelings about these situations, whether the person is verbally, emotionally, or physically abusive. They don't realize it, of course, because they are too busy "doing the Lord's work" or "preaching the Word of God." You just can't reason with them and I know we're supposed to pray, forgive, and bless...

But I think it goes without saying that this is much more easily said than done.

Is it just me, or does it seem like we singles run into these kinds of people more often? (I seem to notice that people with these issues seem to often be single themselves... not surprisingly... and sometimes I am afraid that as I get older, I will become just like them.) Or do people like this just see us as more gullible and easier prey for such forms of abuse? As a single, I've had times where I felt especially vulnerable to these kinds of attacks.

What have your experiences been with such situations, and how have you handled them?

This reminds me of a "christian" couple from California who was in the news last year because they beat their 7-year old adopted daughter to death with a pipe and said that God told them to do it. They also had other children and at least one other daughter was also almost beaten to death.

Couple Beat Child To Death With “Biblical Rod” | Spare The Kids

 

[AgeofKnowledge]

I've seen mentally ill people who display a propensity toward religion. Some of them recognize that they have a psychological condition and are looking for a supernatural solution to it. That's OK.

But some of them are confusing the natural with the supernatural and spiritualizing a non-spiritual mental condition. These are the kind that when they stop taking their lithium are running around saying demons are after them and whatnot. But you give them their medicine and all of a sudden the "demons" stop. There never were any demons. They have a chemical imbalance and are spiritualizing it. I actually can handle being around these ones since I know what's going on and can calm them down and help them find their medicine.

I've also seen the double-minded sex addict religious people. These ones are complete nuts. They'll be extrapolating about some point of scripture in a competent way and then ten minutes later rambling on with the perverted sex talk actually smacking their lips with enjoyment over the thoughts of what they are saying. I don't like to be around these ones as they repel me inside.

But don't confuse the religious/pervert with everyday Christians that have normal attractions for the opposite sex. I'm talking about a whole different breed.

 

[seoulsearch]

This reminds me of a "christian" couple from California who was in the news last year because they beat their 7-year old adopted daughter to death with a pipe and said that God told them to do it. They also had other children and at least one other daughter was also almost beaten to death.

Couple Beat Child To Death With “Biblical Rod” | Spare The Kids

Yes... this would describe someone I knew very well a long time ago. He had marks from a belt buckle that was wielded when he was 5, and his sister had marks from an iron across her forehead. All in the name of Lord, of course. (Yes, my heart is still bitter over this.)

Nuke--you are a better person than I... I wish I could just let it roll off my shoulder so easily but the stubborn part of me angrily clings on.

AgeofK--I agree with you about the ones who mix "spirituality" and sexuality as being especially frightening--some justify molesting children as "preserving their innocence" which is beyond repulsive.

 

[Jullianna]

DISCLAIMER: No ducks were harmed in the making of this thread.
All kidding aside, I do read threads from time to time that seem to reflect a mental disturbance. I usually just pray in that regard and let it go unless they begin to abuse others in the forum repeatedly.

 

[Tintin]

In real life I haven't encountered any severely mentally ill Christians (that I know of) but here on CC, there may be a few. We all know who they are. I get really angry at them too, more so because non-Christians and new Christians could see their posts as Truth.

 

[kayem77]

Kim, this is a subject I personally would like to know more about since I've lived my whole life with someone who, I believe, suffers from some sort of Paranoia or Bipolarism or Depression (or a combination of these). This person would be my mom. She has alwas been religious; she was Catholic her whole life and a few months ago she became Christian (Evangelical). However, the problem is still there, the difference is that now she uses some Bible verses to justify her behavior whenever she gets upset. ''Honor your father and mother'' has always been one of her favorites. She distrusts people and is always sees the devil (metaphorically speaking) wherever she goes. She has accused people of betraying her, she has stoped talking to friends and family members because of imaginary offenses made to her, she thought my dad was cheating on her, among other things. I often times wonder how to deal with her. I love her, but there are times when I don't know how to deal with her behavior.

I'm not sure wether she realizes the damage she does to herself and others but she just can't stop (because of a mental disorder), or if she doesn't wanna stop even if she is able to. There are times when I feel sad for her, because she is hurting herself; and there are times when I feel frustrated because of what she does. I wouldn't describe her as a religious fanatic, but she does use God as a shield when she gets mad.

I moved from home a month ago, not because of my parents though. Mostly because of work and other opportunities.
I've tried to help her in many ways. She was hospitalized but it seems it didn't help much, nor did the doctors paid much attention to her (I'm dissapointed of the Health Care System btw). She was taking a pill, no diagnosis was given to her though, so she stopped taking them. She went to therapy two or three times, they gave her'' relaxation techniques'' whatever that is, and that was it. She still thinks nothing's wrong with her behavior. I've been praying for her, I'm praying God touches her heart through church and her new friends from that church.

How else can you deal with a person you love but refuses to help herself? I wonder if her mental disorder makes her incapable of recognizing that something's wrong, or if she just doesn't wanna change. Whatever the case is, I refuse to think God cannot restore her..

 

[arwen83]

A lot of people with mental illness, in particular, schizophrenia, delusional and psychotic disorders, lean towards religion and carry certain beliefs. My uncle has schizophrenia, when he was sick he was hearing Satan speak to him through his pots and pans, and threw them all out. I can't imagine what live would be like having schizophrenia, I think it would be a personal hell.

When I read those posts- "you're all going to hell if you don't repent now" or any hell and brimestone stuff, I normally do not associate it will a mental illness. I guess I separate religious fanatics as overly charismatic and misguided, not necessarily exhibiting a mental illness. Probably because if it was a person with schizophrenia, the delusion would so grandiose and abnormal that it wouldn't have any sound biblical backing, or make any logical sense.

 

[Jordache]

There was a leader in my church who was supposedly healed of schizophrenia. While I do believe he was healed of the acuteness of it, it was not completely gone. He first manifested the illness before he was a Christian. He had hundreds of thousands of dollars, worked at the top of capital records, had the best wife, best car, best car, you name it. It was shortly after he was saved that he jumped into leadership. He was a charismatic and highly trained and successful in sales, but the thing he sold best was himself.
He began doing all kinds of ministries. One of his big early ministries was an outreach to a trailer park in North Hollywood. I went by his request a few times. I painted, translated, sang, cooked, prayed... It started out well, but his preaching was far from biblical. His style was in your face... very salesman-like. But there wasn't really anyting wrong with it. I just didn't like it. There was a lot of success in that ministry.
Then he began leading the college ministry. He was very outreach oriented and I love outreach so I jumped right in. He began making very inappropriate comments. He was just plain mean to me and to many of the kids inthe group. No one was allowed to question him, or we'd be publically reprimanded. Everything was public with him. And when I said something he didn't like (which in hindsight I shouldn't have said, but it was meant innocently and really wasnt as big as he made it) he screamed at me in front of the whole group and told everyone I had absolutely no purpose in that group. I left the group shortly after that. Eventually I confronted him about his comments. There had been confrontations in the past and none gone well. Usually it went something like "Oh, I'm sorry, but _______________________________________is why it's your fault." or "I don't agree. That's that. Go away!" or "You're wrong and not hearing from the Lord. Go repent and get right with God."
Meanwhile the group continued, and he got worse. I told the senior pastor about the issues.
1) His preaching was ranting that went on and on... one or two very stretched points reiterated for 2 hours.
2) He took scripture out of context.
3) Or he failed to use any.
4) He publically humiliated people at every meeting.
5) He exposed people.
6) He played God.
7) He didn't respect anyone without a title.
I ended up getting back into the group because I was concerned at what I was seeing. There were a few people telling the pastor but this leader was amazing at covering up. When other pastors came to observe, he was perfect. He referred to all the pastors as "Pastor _____" . That's uncommon in my church. He always talked about them like they were God, to the point of complete brown-nosing. Many of the pastors absolutely hated it. Yet, we were just kids who knew nothing. Mind you, at this point he'd been a Christian about 5 years and half the college group had accepted Jesus in childhood. Anyway, I got more and more concerned as I found myself having to pull these kids aside and comfort them or clarify the truth for them.
1) A friend of mine had barely been a Christian for a few weeks. She had lost her brother to a drive by just a few years earlier, and it tore her family apart. This leader was praying and reprimanded... he screamed in the middle of his prayer "Just get over it!"
2) He slammed some of the boys for saying sin was sin.
3) He told my husband at the time that he had no use for him because he misunderstood some instructions and made a mistake.
4) He told me that I needed to sing differently. This was not a comment on worship. This was a comment on vocal technique. Him saying that to me was like me telling monet to mis his colors better.
5) He reprimanded me time and time again for wearing a coat during worship because we we only had a team t-shirt and I was freezing.
6) He snapped at girls he thought wore their pants too tight.
and on and on and on...

He was bad news. Eventually it came to a head at a mission trip. He was having issues with his wife. She didn't come on the trip, but he was spending all hours with his president who happened to be my ex husbands cousin. After the trip, the volcano exploded. He denied it all. She denied it all. But the pastor finally started to see his manipulations. So many people got hurt, and I realized that this leader really loved weak people. His first team was very strong, but when they disagreed with him, he split the team. He recreated a team of baby Christians with no family, no support, and no church to back them up. The previous team, other than myself, had been a group of intelligent, strong Christians, with good families, and strong church support.
As easily predicted... that leader married his 25 yr old president less than a yr after he lost his ministry. She is 22 yr younger than him and thinks he's one step under God.
I spoke with a therapist and found a clearer definition which is why I say this man was never completely healed of schizophrenia. A schizophrenic is someone who pulls you in really close and then knocks you on you butt... and then repeats. This man did this with everyone. He talked about you like you were the most brilliant person in the world, and in one second he snapped and you were lower than dirt.

 

[Tintin]

There's this guy on TheologyWeb that believes he's one of the two witnesses in Revelation. He's written several books and seems convinced of his position but if you go up against him (reasonably and with biblical verses to back up your position) he writes you off as deceived by the Enemy. His prophesy thread has been running since 2005 and has around 1,500 posts. His prophecies just don't line up with what we know from the Bible and even with the Science of today. I'm convinced that this guy is severely-mentally ill.

 

[Elizabeth619]

Kim, this is a subject I personally would like to know more about since I've lived my whole life with someone who, I believe, suffers from some sort of Paranoia or Bipolarism or Depression (or a combination of these). This person would be my mom. She has alwas been religious; she was Catholic her whole life and a few months ago she became Christian (Evangelical). However, the problem is still there, the difference is that now she uses some Bible verses to justify her behavior whenever she gets upset. ''Honor your father and mother'' has always been one of her favorites. She distrusts people and is always sees the devil (metaphorically speaking) wherever she goes. She has accused people of betraying her, she has stoped talking to friends and family members because of imaginary offenses made to her, she thought my dad was cheating on her, among other things. I often times wonder how to deal with her. I love her, but there are times when I don't know how to deal with her behavior.

I'm not sure wether she realizes the damage she does to herself and others but she just can't stop (because of a mental disorder), or if she doesn't wanna stop even if she is able to. There are times when I feel sad for her, because she is hurting herself; and there are times when I feel frustrated because of what she does. I wouldn't describe her as a religious fanatic, but she does use God as a shield when she gets mad.

I moved from home a month ago, not because of my parents though. Mostly because of work and other opportunities.
I've tried to help her in many ways. She was hospitalized but it seems it didn't help much, nor did the doctors paid much attention to her (I'm dissapointed of the Health Care System btw). She was taking a pill, no diagnosis was given to her though, so she stopped taking them. She went to therapy two or three times, they gave her'' relaxation techniques'' whatever that is, and that was it. She still thinks nothing's wrong with her behavior. I've been praying for her, I'm praying God touches her heart through church and her new friends from that church.

How else can you deal with a person you love but refuses to help herself? I wonder if her mental disorder makes her incapable of recognizing that something's wrong, or if she just doesn't wanna change. Whatever the case is, I refuse to think God cannot restore her..

PPeople who suffer from this type of disorder have a hard time aadmitting something is wrong. I mean would you want someone telling you that you're "crazy"?
In their mind they're fine. The end up processing things differently than the norm so they think they're the only normal ones. But always keep in mi d they're mind is affected. Not their heart. God judges the heart.

 

[seoulsearch]

It's always intriguing to me how there is such a fine line between "fanatic" and "fanatical for God."

Saul was so "on fire for God" that he was killing the very people who believed in Him... and then suddenly, God turned all that ambition into someone we all know as Paul... and our faith has never been the same.

Kayem and Jordache, I am so sorry for the abuses you have been through... You have my love, sympathies, and prayers. I have some very close to me whom I believe suffers from an illness as well, but does not see it as a problem and would never seek help.

I know this is a deeply personal subject and I thank everyone for their thoughts and opinions as they continue to share. Thank you so much for taking the time to post, and I hope you will continue to do so!! I learn from every post I read, and sometimes feel convicted myself as well.

To be honest, I've had my own bouts with severe depression and once had a boyfriend who pinned me to the floor and screamed, "Do you want me to tell your parents (and everyone else) that you're (things I can't write here) C-R-A-Z-Y????" And at the time, I probably agreed... but probably didn't care.

God bless and much love! Please keep sharing!

 

[susanblange]

Psalm 38:7 For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease and there is no soundness in my flesh. Jesus heard voices and had visions, today we would call this mental illness but what if it's real? I think it's a combination of both.

 

[susanblange]

Everybody who believes they are sent by God is mentally ill even if they're right. People who believe that live in another world and their reality is not of this world.

 

[susanblange]

I'm wondering who the second witness is and why he hasn't gone to Jerusalem.

 

[seoulsearch]

I'm wondering who the second witness is and why he hasn't gone to Jerusalem.

I'm sorry... I'm not familiar with this passage... What exactly is this a reference to?

 

[Liamson]

There are so many Personality Disorders that manifest themselves in religious irregularities. Narcissistic Messiahs, Borderline perpetual Victims.

My Adoptive mother has had a half a dozen mental breakdowns when I was growing up. She sold everything that wasn't nailed down and filled the basement with Rice, because she had a dream that the Chinese were invading or y2k was going down or She was the woman in Revelation who rides the beast, etc. She became super involved in Uber-Charismatic churches with all kinds of superstitious activities. It was like BurningMan meets Jesus Camp.

At first I was the concerned and yet traumatized 10 year old but, as I got older and became the skeptical Adult. Its what motivated me to study Psychology because I knew for a fact that later on in my life, she was faking it but, I don't know if that was always the case.

Its amazing the lengths a person will go to to get a cheat, file for a divorce and still try to play the victim card.

The whole reason I was Adopted was because My Birth Mother was Schizophrenic and according to the tale, threw me in the air to be caught by a fireman. Out of the frying pan...


I guess this is my baggage too.