[Vision2020] Religion and Mental Illness

[Art Deco]

  <http://www.printfriendly.com>
Religion and Mental Illness – How we define “hyper” religious and what does
that mean
http://blogs.psychcentral.com/manic-depression/2012/09/18/religion-and-mental-illness-how-we-define-hyper-religion-and-what-does-that-mean/<http://www.printfriendly.com/print/v2?url=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.psychcentral.com%2Fmanic-depression%2F2012%2F09%2F18%2Freligion-and-mental-illness-how-we-define-hyper-religion-and-what-does-that-mean%2F>
September 19, 2012

Are there a lot of hyper religions people walking around with schizophrenia
or hypo mania and not even know it?  Can religion be a springboard to help
discover a mental illness?

I was a holy kid. It started at a young age.  I attended a parish grammar
school and religion was the backbone of my education.  During Lent I would
give up my recesses to attend mass and always did the rosary before I went
to bed.  I was the only one in my family that was hard core pious, and the
only one that was hypo manic as well, and now look back and begin to
wonder:  How did my mental illness play a role in fueling my religious
devotion?

An easy answer for a reason why people with mental illness can be hyper
religious is they need some type of hope so turn to God for answers or
understanding.  I believe that is a goto description that is somewhat
obvious.  When we are confused, or lost in life, we often times turn to God
for guidance. But, what if it’s more complicated than that.  What if the
written word of the bible enters the brain differently and interprets
religious writings uniquely from a person without a mental illness.

When I worked in psych wards the hyper religious patients that were
considered “hyper” religious would carry a bible under their arm all day
long or point out passages that spoke to them directly.  I began to wonder
what the correlation was between the bible and individuals suffering from a
mental illness.  Their passion and commitment to God would be noted in
their chart: patient suffers from hyper religion.  That notation was
supposed to connote that the patient was in a manic episode fueled by an
obsession with a higher power or had some delusions from schizophrenia;
that God was talking directly to them.  Does that mean they actually heard
a voice that was an audio hallucination or that God was spiritually
connecting with them.  There is a big difference between hearing an actual
voice versus feeling God’s spirit within.  One’s concrete and one’s
abstract.

There are plenty of people around the world that have strong beliefs and
connections with God.  People are willing to die for their God.  So is that
the definition of “hyper” religion?  Does a person have to have a mental
illness to be considered a hyper religious individual, or is there no
relationship to hyper religion and mental illness.

What do you think?  Does hyper religion mean you are mentally ill?

How do *you* define hyper religion?  Did the tragedy of the world trade
center occur by some individuals that actually heard an audio hallucination
that specifically told them to do it?

These are difficult questions to analyze but one thing is for certain, in
an inpatient psych setting, a person responding to a voice they claim to be
as God is considered a symptom of an acute mental illness.  “God told me to
stab my mom.”  That schizophrenic patient truly believed God told them to
do it and the voice in their head, that is caused my schizophrenia,
resulted in her death.

This leads me to wonder: Can hyper religious individuals be a sign of an
acute mental illness and help one discover they have a mental illness
before a first mental break?

A lot of people died on 9/11.  How many of those deaths may have been
caused my schizophrenic leaders walking around hearing a direct voice from
their God that dictated their actions.  Like I said, it is a dicey topic,
but one worthy of analytical examination.

Bible, cross and apple photo available from Shutterstock
*APA Reference*

Loberg, E. (2012). Religion and Mental Illness – How we define “hyper”
religious and what does that mean. *Psych Central*. Retrieved on September
19, 2012, from
http://blogs.psychcentral.com/manic-depression/2012/09/18/religion-and-mental-illness-how-we-define-hyper-religion-and-what-does-that-mean/


-- 
Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
art.deco.studios at gmail.com
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