Super Moderator buffettphan Posted November 8, 2014 Super Moderator Share Posted November 8, 2014 There is an excellent article on the Main Blog entitled Psychological Harms of Bible Believing Christianity by Marlene Winell and Valerie Tarico. Here's a little snippet from the beginning of the article: "I am 30 years old and I am struggling to find sanity. Between the Christian schools, homeschooling, the Christian group home (indoctrinating work camp) and different churches in different cities, I am a psychological, emotional and spiritual mess.” --A former EvangelicalIf a former believer says that Christianity made her depressed, obsessive, or post-traumatic, she is likely to be dismissed as an exaggerator. She might describe panic attacks about the rapture; moods that swung from ecstasy about God’s overwhelming love to suicidal self-loathing about repeated sins; or an obsession with sexual purity.A symptom like one of these clearly has a religious component, yet many people instinctively blame the victim. They will say that the wounded former believer was prone to anxiety or depression or obsession in the first place—that his Christianity somehow got corrupted by his predisposition to psychological problems. Or they will say that he wasn’t a real Christian. If only he had prayed in faith believing or loved God with all his heart, soul and mind, if only he had really been saved—then he would have experienced the peace that passes all understanding.But the reality is far more complex. It is true that symptoms like depression or panic attacks most often strike those of us who are vulnerable, perhaps because of genetics or perhaps because situational stressors have worn us down. But certain aspects of Christian beliefs and Christian living also can create those stressors, even setting up multigenerational patterns of abuse, trauma, and self-abuse. Also, over time some religious beliefs can create habitual thought patterns that actually alter brain function, making it difficult for people to heal or grow. The purveyors of religion insist that their product is so powerful it can transform a life, but ... http://new.exchristian.net/2014/11/psychological-harms-of-bible-believing.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreeThinkerNZ Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 Thanks for posting this, its an excellent article. Extra hugs to those psychologically harmed by bible believing xianity. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VahnBlue Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 I remember that I used to have dreams of being in heaven and hell on multiple accounts, as a kid. Suffering from Sleep Paralysis, while growing up, didn't help either. Anytime I had an attack, I would get scared and my psyche would start imagining up demons. Seeing as how you can actually see images come to life during sleep paralysis; imagine as kid seeing a demon sit on your chest or a different account of a demon literally seeming like its sucking the life out of you, while you go into mini convulsions. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
♦ ficino ♦ Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 Excellent post, thanks. I notice that Tarico quotes from Heimlich's book entitled Breaking the Will. My mother told me that my father's mother set about explicitly to "break the will" of her (my grandmother's) children. She and my grandfather were strict Methodists. My mother was raised in a very liberal Methodist church in California, so she saw through this sort of strictness right away. My father later literally went crazy. He was diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic. His delusions took religious forms for decades. My mother was crazy, too, but not because of her religion. Maybe the stresses of coping with my father's insanity and his family were factors in her own troubles, though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrotherJosh Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 There's also a shaming component from Christians when dealing with mental illness. Needing medication or counseling is "weakness" since the person is not relying wholly on God. The person is not confronting their "sin" or God is trying to get their attention. They are not living in God's will and so on. One of the churches I went to convinced a schizophrenic man to go off his medication because he didn't need it - let God heal him is what they said. Well, he had a breakdown and almost murdered his family until the police were called. Christians look to pastors for counseling when these individuals have no such training or expertise in that. Pastors more than likely will violate a ton of ethical principles and create a worse situation for the person. Yet they are trusted because they are a pastor. What a joke. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llwellyn Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 Scientists are changing their theory about the origins of schizophrenia and psychosis. In the past, these were considered to be more "organic diseases" unrelated to a person's education and beliefs. But now, scientists are questioning whether these diseases are related to a victim's misapprehension of what is "Salient." I heard this on NPR a couple od days ago: "Someone without schizophrenia can hear a car alarm go off in the distance and barely register it. The brain instantly knows that the car alarm isn't salient. You can ignore it. But for some people with schizophrenia, says Vinogradov, it's as if the filter is broken. "They are walking down the street trying to have a conversation and their brain is being flooded with the sound of the door slamming, the airplane going overhead." The brain of someone with schizophrenia tries to process all that information as though it has meaning, says Vinogradov. And maybe, though this is just a theory, this onslaught of extra stuff, extra data — that is what gives rise to hallucinations. "It tries to make sense of it so that the person can go about with their life," says Vinogradov. "And there's some evidence to suggest that that's what gives rise to delusional ideas, to paranoia, to hallucinatory activity." Considered this way, schizophrenia is a disease in which the stream of consciousness has swollen into a tsunami." "Brain Training May Help Calm The Storms Of Schizophrenia" http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/11/03/359655855/a-new-way-of-thinking-about-schizophrenia-could-lead-to-new-treatments Christianity creates a new cognitive map in a human about what is relevant, what is palpable, what is salient. An uninfecte human lives in the moment, consults their own instincts and intuition, and seeks to meet the felt desires of themselves and their families. When a person becomes infected, they come to contemplate as salient all kinds of bizarre and abstract ideas -- heaven, hell, Trinity, justification, atonement, demons, angels, predestination... The list goes on and on and only gets more and more bizarre. If Schizophrenia is created by a misapprehension of relevance, then Christianity is surely the fuel of crazy-making. If recovery from disorder comes from retraining the brain to "tune out distractions" -- then on this forum we are all doing some important work of clearing out the undergrowth of mental kudzu. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VahnBlue Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 There's also a shaming component from Christians when dealing with mental illness. Needing medication or counseling is "weakness" since the person is not relying wholly on God. The person is not confronting their "sin" or God is trying to get their attention. They are not living in God's will and so on. One of the churches I went to convinced a schizophrenic man to go off his medication because he didn't need it - let God heal him is what they said. Well, he had a breakdown and almost murdered his family until the police were called. Christians look to pastors for counseling when these individuals have no such training or expertise in that. Pastors more than likely will violate a ton of ethical principles and create a worse situation for the person. Yet they are trusted because they are a pastor. What a joke.Wow, what an idiot Pastor. Personally, I don't see how any of these supposed Christians could even be so against science but when they are in need of medical attention from broken limbs, sickness, etc; a vast majority are quick to go to the hospital. Or they use the phone, computers, appliances, etc. like noooo you can be picking and choosing your science lol A TRUE Christian would be giving all his possessions away and practically living like the Amish. All these modernized Christians should be Deists; if you ask me, they technically are and are using Christianity as a veil. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrotherJosh Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 Religion and mental illness play off each other very well. The religion often feeds the mental illness and makes it worse. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrotherJosh Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 There's also a shaming component from Christians when dealing with mental illness. Needing medication or counseling is "weakness" since the person is not relying wholly on God. The person is not confronting their "sin" or God is trying to get their attention. They are not living in God's will and so on. One of the churches I went to convinced a schizophrenic man to go off his medication because he didn't need it - let God heal him is what they said. Well, he had a breakdown and almost murdered his family until the police were called. Christians look to pastors for counseling when these individuals have no such training or expertise in that. Pastors more than likely will violate a ton of ethical principles and create a worse situation for the person. Yet they are trusted because they are a pastor. What a joke.Wow, what an idiot Pastor. Personally, I don't see how any of these supposed Christians could even be so against science but when they are in need of medical attention from broken limbs, sickness, etc; a vast majority are quick to go to the hospital. Or they use the phone, computers, appliances, etc. like noooo you can be picking and choosing your science lol A TRUE Christian would be giving all his possessions away and practically living like the Amish. All these modernized Christians should be Deists; if you ask me, they technically are and are using Christianity as a veil. At least in this brand of Christianity (one that my family is still in) psychology is bad and mental illness is not real. Psychology is seen as a sinful, amoral worldview or philosophy that competes with The Truth of the Bible. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreeThinkerNZ Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 Religion and mental illness play off each other very well. The religion often feeds the mental illness and makes it worse. In my case, depression made me feel like turning to religion for solace. It made me vulnerable to infection with the god virus. As my depression got better, I stopped believing in god. Having reached that point, I then learnt all I could about deconversion, skepticism, and atheism, to fully inoculate myself against reinfection. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VahnBlue Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 There's also a shaming component from Christians when dealing with mental illness. Needing medication or counseling is "weakness" since the person is not relying wholly on God. The person is not confronting their "sin" or God is trying to get their attention. They are not living in God's will and so on. One of the churches I went to convinced a schizophrenic man to go off his medication because he didn't need it - let God heal him is what they said. Well, he had a breakdown and almost murdered his family until the police were called. Christians look to pastors for counseling when these individuals have no such training or expertise in that. Pastors more than likely will violate a ton of ethical principles and create a worse situation for the person. Yet they are trusted because they are a pastor. What a joke.Wow, what an idiot Pastor. Personally, I don't see how any of these supposed Christians could even be so against science but when they are in need of medical attention from broken limbs, sickness, etc; a vast majority are quick to go to the hospital. Or they use the phone, computers, appliances, etc. like noooo you can be picking and choosing your science lol A TRUE Christian would be giving all his possessions away and practically living like the Amish. All these modernized Christians should be Deists; if you ask me, they technically are and are using Christianity as a veil. At least in this brand of Christianity (one that my family is still in) psychology is bad and mental illness is not real. Psychology is seen as a sinful, amoral worldview or philosophy that competes with The Truth of the Bible. Oh my. Just 1 of the near 40,000 other denominations that have interpreted the bible in their own way and possibly their own set of morals and beliefs. Mental illness is not real...I'm developing an aneurysm. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llwellyn Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 There's also a shaming component from Christians when dealing with mental illness. Needing medication or counseling is "weakness" since the person is not relying wholly on God. The person is not confronting their "sin" or God is trying to get their attention. They are not living in God's will and so on. One of the churches I went to convinced a schizophrenic man to go off his medication because he didn't need it - let God heal him is what they said. Well, he had a breakdown and almost murdered his family until the police were called. Christians look to pastors for counseling when these individuals have no such training or expertise in that. Pastors more than likely will violate a ton of ethical principles and create a worse situation for the person. Yet they are trusted because they are a pastor. What a joke. It seems like Christian "Ministers" hate science-based psychological therapy for the same reason that Scientologists wage a campaign against psychiatry. It is also why Burger King competes against MacDonalds.... Market Share. But Christian Preachers have an advantage over Science-based therapists -- they administer both the antidote and the poison. If you go to a reputable therapist who follows modern technique and best-practices, they will tell you that they will meet with you a limited number of times -- perhaps 10 sessions, and no more. You will learn Cognitive-Behavioral Techniques, and then you will terminate the therapy. By contrast, there is no limit to the number of times the pastor will meet with you for "confession," "spiritaul formation" and other wicked things. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deva Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 Christianity left me with a permanently inferior view of myself. I always viewed myself as being damaged. Never good enough, never "saved," never able to attain any assurance that I was in fact going to heaven. So there wasn't even really the true hope that things would eventually be better. I always thought I could never do enough, that I just wasn't good enough, ever. What blessedness I have truly felt has come after I left Christianity and began to work on myself to counteract this false image that was forced on me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreeThinkerNZ Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 There's also a shaming component from Christians when dealing with mental illness. Needing medication or counseling is "weakness" since the person is not relying wholly on God. The person is not confronting their "sin" or God is trying to get their attention. They are not living in God's will and so on. One of the churches I went to convinced a schizophrenic man to go off his medication because he didn't need it - let God heal him is what they said. Well, he had a breakdown and almost murdered his family until the police were called. Christians look to pastors for counseling when these individuals have no such training or expertise in that. Pastors more than likely will violate a ton of ethical principles and create a worse situation for the person. Yet they are trusted because they are a pastor. What a joke. It seems like Christian "Ministers" hate science-based psychological therapy for the same reason that Scientologists wage a campaign against psychiatry. It is also why Burger King competes against MacDonalds.... Market Share. But Christian Preachers have an advantage over Science-based therapists -- they administer both the antidote and the poison. If you go to a reputable therapist who follows modern technique and best-practices, they will tell you that they will meet with you a limited number of times -- perhaps 10 sessions, and no more. You will learn Cognitive-Behavioral Techniques, and then you will terminate the therapy. By contrast, there is no limit to the number of times the pastor will meet with you for "confession," "spiritaul formation" and other wicked things. I know you were just giving this as an example to make your point, which I agree with, but "modern technique and best practice" includes longer durations of therapy and a range of therapies other than CBT. Ten sessions of CBT will help with a lot of things but it is not the only way to do therapy. In particular, those affected by religious trauma will probably need more therapy than that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llwellyn Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 "modern technique and best practice" includes longer durations of therapy and a range of therapies other than CBT. Ten sessions of CBT will help with a lot of things but it is not the only way to do therapy. In particular, those affected by religious trauma will probably need more therapy than that. You likely know more than me about modern technique and best practice. It's been a while since I myself was administered therapy, and I am not a therapists myself. So, I will certainly defer to your knowledge. From what I know, however, every therapeutic plan has a beginning and an end, and it is a kind of malpractice to administer therapy without the goal of discontinuation. And if the therapy proves ineffective at remedying the problem, then the therapy itself should end because it is not working. Christian ministers, by contrast, will tell you that your struggle against your sin nature (with which only they can assist you), is a struggle that will continue as long as you are alive, as long as you have a checking account balance, and as long as you are earning wages that you can put into the tithing basket. Some ministers accept other forms of payment. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreeThinkerNZ Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 "modern technique and best practice" includes longer durations of therapy and a range of therapies other than CBT. Ten sessions of CBT will help with a lot of things but it is not the only way to do therapy. In particular, those affected by religious trauma will probably need more therapy than that. You likely know more than me about modern technique and best practice. It's been a while since I myself was administered therapy, and I am not a therapists myself. So, I will certainly defer to your knowledge. From what I know, however, every therapeutic plan has a beginning and an end, and it is a kind of malpractice to administer therapy without the goal of discontinuation. And if the therapy proves ineffective at remedying the problem, then the therapy itself should end because it is not working. Christian ministers, by contrast, will tell you that your struggle against your sin nature (with which only they can assist you), is a struggle that will continue as long as you are alive, as long as you have a checking account balance, and as long as you are earning wages that you can put into the tithing basket. Some ministers accept other forms of payment. You make an excellent point. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikey101 Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 I've only been in therapy a few months but it's already given me alot of awareness of myself and things I didn't know before. One of the dysfunctions we recognize is religious abuse. I didn't know that before, I just suspected on my own that I was involved in a dysfunctional lifestyle when I was a fundamentalist Christian. Now I realize it's something widely known in clinical practice. From what I can tell, the core of all the dysfunctional issue and problems comes from childhood and carries on to affect the rest of our lives. And it isn't something you can fix in a few months either, it's a long process of recovery. But once you get going it really starts changing your life immediately. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthmama514 Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 There's also a shaming component from Christians when dealing with mental illness. Needing medication or counseling is "weakness" since the person is not relying wholly on God. The person is not confronting their "sin" or God is trying to get their attention. They are not living in God's will and so on. One of the churches I went to convinced a schizophrenic man to go off his medication because he didn't need it - let God heal him is what they said. Well, he had a breakdown and almost murdered his family until the police were called. Christians look to pastors for counseling when these individuals have no such training or expertise in that. Pastors more than likely will violate a ton of ethical principles and create a worse situation for the person. Yet they are trusted because they are a pastor. What a joke.Wow, what an idiot Pastor. Personally, I don't see how any of these supposed Christians could even be so against science but when they are in need of medical attention from broken limbs, sickness, etc; a vast majority are quick to go to the hospital. Or they use the phone, computers, appliances, etc. like noooo you can be picking and choosing your science lol A TRUE Christian would be giving all his possessions away and practically living like the Amish. All these modernized Christians should be Deists; if you ask me, they technically are and are using Christianity as a veil. At least in this brand of Christianity (one that my family is still in) psychology is bad and mental illness is not real. Psychology is seen as a sinful, amoral worldview or philosophy that competes with The Truth of the Bible. Yep. Growing up I was taught (by my ifb pastor father) that mental illness was not real and that all mental illness could be "cured" by getting saved and accepting christ. All mental illness was just the demons tormenting reprobate minds who had denied god Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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