Spirits vs. Psychology
I wish to share two email messages recently received. I want to be as
clear as possible about spirit influence and mental illness. These are
important emails to share even though criticism is not comfortable--it is
necessary for clarification purposes.
H-wrote the following:
You should feel nothing but shame. The physical and emotional effects that you
attribute to demonic possession are symptoms very typical of schizophrenia and
several other chemical brain disorders. This is the year 2000 and not the
medieval age. At one time people attributed just about everything to "bad
spirits" including menopause and depression and even passion. You do
a great many people a disservice by labeling diagnosable, and often treatable,
medical disorders as evil curses or demonic possession.
Maybe you are comfortable with your bigotry because you have never known anyone
who suffered from schizophrenia or similar illness.
The mentally ill continue to suffer more discrimination than
any other minority group. Many who suffer from schizophrenia are homeless
because their families and communities have turned them away. They have
historically, at least in western Christian cultures, been an unwanted, feared,
and victimized group. Other non-Christian cultures, especially the Native
American groups, have shown tolerance, compassion, and respect for the mentally
ill.
I found your site by accident and it blind generalizations really made me angry.
My mother suffered from chronic paranoid schizophrenia until her death in 1993.
I remember much too well the day the well meaning, but cruelly ignorant, Christian
women came into our home and attempted to exorcise her. They burned many of her
things trying to drive the non-existent demons out. It made absolutely no change
in her symptoms, but it did knock her self-esteem even further down to be
labeled, not only "crazy," but also "evil." As her daughter,
I also suffered as ignorant adults watched me closely for any "signs,"
and did not hesitate to degrade my mother in front of me. My mother was a
beautiful person, and a far more spiritual person than any self-professed
Christian I have ever had the misfortune to encounter.
I suggest you educate yourself and your community. You should
begin by contacting the Alliance for the Mentally Ill and finding out more about
schizophrenia and the people who suffer from this disease. You can visit their
web page at http://www.nami.org Then you should obtain a general education
covering psychology, anthropology, history, sociology, and communications.
I would also suggest sensitivity training to learn tolerance
and compassion for your fellow humans. Please do not contribute any further to
the victimization of an already tortured group of individuals. Do not further
their suffering by encouraging more bigotry and fear and misunderstanding. And
please do not convince someone who needs medical attention that their problems
are rooted in" sin" or superstition. You may be unknowingly
endangering them by contributing to their paranoia and suicidal tendencies, and
by preventing them from seeking positive forms of therapy/treatment. If you
really want to walk the path of Christ, you should volunteer your time at a care
home or other psychiatric facility where patients may be subject to abuse and
humiliation, and work there to make a difference.
My
answer
I strongly disagree with your email to me. Yes, I know mental illness exists
separate from spirit possession. I am speaking of CHANNELING of the Ouija Board
and other occult activities.
Yes, I do believe that I should write a page on psychology and mental illness.
I am accustomed to being called a disgrace to the honored profession of
Psychology. Actually, I have a college minor in Psychology and a major in
Sociology. I am very aware of the aspects of mental illness.
I believe that the CHANNELING experience opens a person open to many spiritual
problems. All my comments have to do with spiritual beliefs such as leading
innocent people into "spirit guides, talking to angels, playing on Ouija
and Angel boards" and the devastating results of doing such activities.
Yes, I do know psychology. Yes, Psychology can be useful in some cases. In many
cases, all it can to is drug people to a point of disabling their ability to
function. Psychology does not have all the answers. A reading or
memorization from the New Testament and a lot of prayer to Jesus cannot hurt
anyone--even if the person has a mental illness and not a spiritual torment.
Second email:
I think you may be looking at coincidence. Schizophrenia and chronic depression
manifest in the late teens and early twenties during a time when most people are
exploring and experimenting with many new thought forms and ideologies. Many
people who suffer the beginning effects of these illnesses are drawn to the
occult as they search for explanation or relief of the symptoms that plague
them. And sometimes times a link with the subconscious, like when you use a
witch board, will bring old emotions and buried trauma to the conscious level
possibly triggering a breakdown. You should at least post a disclaimer stating
that anyone suffering the affects listed on your site, under "demon
possession," may want to seek the advise of a physician in case the
connection is a coincidence and there is potentially a physiological element at
work.
I never said I had all the answers, nor did I say that the
medical profession had all the answers, but what you are doing is helping to
further a damaging stigma. You, whether you realize it are not, are attributing
the behaviors commonly exhibited by an illness to an age old religious evil.
People in the community that support the mentally ill have been battling that
stigma for generations. And, although prayer is a beautiful and necessary thing,
alone it is not always enough. I believe in healing, but I also realize that
there are many roads to that place. Spirituality, counseling, support of
friends, medication, artistic expression, good nutrition, and exercises are
among the many things that help a person to maintain a state of wellness.
Sometimes, in some situations, medication is very necessary.
We had in our family a well-meaning Uncle who was a Baptist
minister. He labeled my mother as a drug addict and insisted that she only
needed Jesus so he flushed her medication. Without her medication she could not
function (the voices were overwhelming her) and had to check herself into a
hospital. It took a long time for her to get back to where she had been before
he took it upon himself to "help her be strong in the Lord." This is
not an isolated incident. Many of my mother's friends had been through similar
experiences.
I am writing you this because I simply want you see another perspective on this
issue. People can be horribly hurt by our best intentions. A candle illuminates
the darkness, but it also casts a shadow. I still suggest you visit http://www.nami.org
to learn more about the issues that challenge people with schizophrenia. And on
a side note, psychology is no more of a crutch or "drug" than religion
is. People abuse them in very similar ways.
My Answer
Unfortunately, many of our mental hospitals and behavior health facilities move
them in and out too fast--filled with drugs and helpless to face the world.
I have seen people on so many prescribed drugs that they have seizures and
are not able to function. That does not mean Psychology is bad only
imperfect.
Christains made your Mom feel guilty and behaved in an insensitive manner?
They tried to help but forgot to include love and respect for your Mom.
That does not mean that Christians are bad only imperfect.
There is a spiritual world. I got involved in it many years ago through the
Ouija Board. I was a kind, happy, college girl at the time. After the spirit
contact I was filled with hate and suicidal thoughts. I prayed for my
deliverance and fought with all my might for my spiritual freedom and sanity. I
prayed and fought for two years while I had bad dreams and spiritual torture.
Then one night I was awakened by a sudden jerk of the muscles in my body and I
knew I was delivered. The spirit that was torturing me was gone. You can tell me
how all this was my subconscious and there was no spirit. I will NEVER believe
you. I know there is a spiritual world and the spirits can and do hurt people.
If there were only more people in the mental health field who recognized that
there is a spiritual side to psychology--everyone would be better off. Oh yes, I
know there is the New Age meditation and concentrating on the "white
light" in Yoga and other practices some areas that psychological counseling
embraces. That can contribute to summoning of the spirits if the person
participating is spiritually sensitive. Psychology is contributing to a
spiritual problem when it confirms these practices as "healing." That
is the true shame.
I am telling you that there are many, many people out there who make a normal
practice of channeling the spirits. There is major interest in channeling and
communication with the dead. Once these people are in spirit possession--maybe
psychology can make the voices a little more silent, but it will NEVER recognize
the true problem--a spirit that is torturing a person. That is the ultimate
shame because with the right spiritual help, they could be free of pills and get
their sanity back.
Rock Music-Alvin's Article
Is God Real?
Test the spirits
Kempi--See Spirits
Spirits vs. Psychology
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