Are religious people mentally ill / psychotic?

[loverofhumanity]

Psychosis is when you perceived reality for what it is not.
a severe mental disorder in which thought and emotions are so impaired that contact is lost with external reality.

If there is no God(s), does that mean religious people are experiencing a form of psychosis that has simply been normalized?

If Jesus isn't the son of God, then a Christian has lost contact with reality when they believe Jesus is hearing their prayers and will come back to Earth one day. It is delusional, is it not? If there is no gods that is.
As theists don't all agree with each other, some of them have to be wrong. So we know for sure that some religious people are delusional, right? Believing reality for what it is not.

Mental illness is no light topic and I don't intend to be using it lightly here. A genuine question this is.

It depends how one defines a human being. Are we just animals? Or are we spiritual beings? I think anyone atheist or religionist can be mentally delusional. Because if there is a God then that would mean atheists are stubbornly clinging to a delusional view so we cannot exclude that it may indeed be the atheist who is delusional not the religionists.

If God does exist and people deny the fact then that means they have lost contact with reality. The problem is that atheists seem to be saying they cannot be wrong? That they are infallible? That they trust their error prone human reasoning so much that it is unthinkable that they could be wrong? Will they ever question themselves? Isn’t that delusional to believe that God cannot exist?

The religionist on the other hand usually follows an established Founder of a religion such as Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad or Moses etc so maybe by examining these Prophets we can better determine whether the followers are delusional or not. If we can prove God does not exist and so all the Prophets were just ordinary humans then we would have to examine if what They taught was delusional. Is love or justice or to forgive being delusional? To be kind and generous and help the poor? So even though we may say these are humanist values are they delusional if they promote our well being and happiness. And is believing in a God Who teaches to love all humanity being delusional?

 

[lewisnotmiller]

But seriously, it does pay to try and keep an eye on your mental health as you travel through life.

Sage advice for all.

+1

 

[amorphous_constellation]

For something to be considered a mental health problem, it has to create dysfunction in a person's life.

But you know, the really weird thing about that is, that people/cultures will define where the loop ends. If you are Amish, you will never worry about driving on the freeway, or doing other tasks in modern society, many of which now make unique demands on people. The same probably follows for people living in isolated tribes, perhaps in South America, or Hasidic Jews. So in other words, 'function,' can be defined, and limited, by culture. So x does not have to equal y. The bandwidth of y can exceed, or, be too narrow for, x

 

[Aštra’el]

I must not love myself too much, or it is “narcissism”. I must not exert too much control over my emotions, or it makes me a “sociopath”. I must not dream too big, or I suffer from “delusions of grandeur”. I must not become too religious, or I am “psychotic”.

Honestly, screw all that, and the people who preach it.

I will love myself. Greatly. I will exert control. Absolutely. I will dream big, beyond what most allow themselves to imagine. I will remain religious. Deeply.

I will utilize any side of human nature I will, to whatever extent I wish, to live how I will to live and become who I will to become. There are no apologies, and there are no regrets. I seek approval from no one.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Not to dismiss the value of doctors, but the rest is personal viewpoints and extremist without understanding the empirical evidence of the benefits of faith (as shown in another post)

Mine is not personal viewpoints, but also the viewpoint of many researchers clinicians regarding things like and a chuck of self help books that promote similar ideas of doing it in some spiritual sort of way. The same exact criticisms apply to the Secret, which is equally built upon pseudoscience and nonsense of a spiritual cure. If people want to include elements of that, then of course that is fine, but offering a cure, especially for something like a psychotic disorder, just cannot ethically be offered, and there is real risk in the failures of such approaches.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I must not love myself too much, or it is “narcissism”. I must not exert too much control over my emotions, or it makes me a “sociopath”. I must not dream too big, or I suffer from “delusions of grandeur”. I must not become too religious, or I am “psychotic”.

Honestly, screw all that, and the people who preach it.

I will love myself. Greatly. I will exert control. Absolutely. I will dream big, beyond what most allow themselves to imagine. I will remain religious. Deeply.

I will utilize any side of human nature I will, to whatever extent I wish, to live how I will to live and become who I will to become. There are no apologies, and there are no regrets. I seek approval from no one.

We know. That's most of your posts.

 

[We Never Know]

Please don't promote such nonsense. Psychosis is a serious thing and people need actual help with from those trained in dealing with things. Such approaches do actually have the potential to do harm, because when the changes don't happen or happen but don't last long there is a real risk someone will needlessly blame themselves as it appears a valid conclusion the individual did not do something right even though care was taken to ensure everything was done right. And when that one happens it's not unusual for the person to end up in a worse state than before. This also opens the potential to create a self defeating feed back loop of failure and self blame.

Yet some do find peace with their faith.
No one said it can't go both ways.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Yet some do find peace with their faith.
No one said it can't go both ways.

If people want to include elements of that, then of course that is fine, but offering a cure, especially for something like a psychotic disorder, just cannot ethically be offered, and there is real risk in the failures of such approaches.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

I must not love myself too much, or it is “narcissism”. I must not exert too much control over my emotions, or it makes me a “sociopath”. I must not dream too big, or I suffer from “delusions of grandeur”. I must not become too religious, or I am “psychotic”.

You clearly known next to nothing about psychology. May I suggest you take a Psych 100 course at a community college, or read a textbook on abnormal psych? Each disorder has very specific criteria. Narcissism is not the same thing as self love. Sociopathy is a good deal more complicated than "not exerting too much control over your emotions." You need to find out what exactly a delusion is, because your example isn't one. And being religious is certainly nothing to do with psychoses. So please, try educating yourself before you open your mouth about things you know nothing about.

 

[We Never Know]

We know. That's most of your posts.

Your last post is messed up so a reply doesn't work right.

Anyways this is in respose to your last post, #48..

Placebo success rates range from 15% to 72%.

Lets say a god is a placebo to some.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Your last post is messed up so a reply doesn't work right.

Anyways this is in respose to your last post, #48..

Placebo success rates range from 15% to 72%.

Lets say a god is a placebo to some.

But that's not addressing offering a cure for something incurable or a treatment that is based on problematic research and research that does not pan out in the peer review process. If people want that, there is no problem with that and certainly we do see various aspects of certain religious beliefs and practices and spiritual views can help and even still help when these principles are presented and upheld in similar ways (like having a diety or someone in our life in which we strive to not disappoint or provoke scorn or this figure), but it's an aid and not a treatment. Something like a psychotic disorder is a lifelong effort of coping and symptom management, where these aids play a crucial role, and Christianity doesn't hold a monopoly or exclusive rights to it.

 

[We Never Know]

But that's not addressing offering a cure for something incurable or a treatment that is based on problematic research and research that does not pan out in the peer review process. If people want that, there is no problem with that and certainly we do see various aspects of certain religious beliefs and practices and spiritual views can help and even still help when these principles are presented and upheld in similar ways (like having a diety or someone in our life in which we strive to not disappoint or provoke scorn or this figure), but it's an aid and not a treatment. Something like a psychotic disorder is a lifelong effort of coping and symptom management, where these aids play a crucial role, and Christianity doesn't hold a monopoly or exclusive rights to it.

What some people think there is no cure for, placebos cure it sometimes.

"Furthermore, the placebo effect is no small or insignificant statistical aberration. Estimates of the placebo cure rate range from a low of 15 percent to a high of 72 percent. The longer the period of treatment and the larger the number of physician visits, the greater the placebo effect.

https://www-psychologytoday-com.cdn...-sense/201201/the-placebo-effect-how-it-works

 

[DNB]

Psychosis is when you perceived reality for what it is not.
a severe mental disorder in which thought and emotions are so impaired that contact is lost with external reality.

If there is no God(s), does that mean religious people are experiencing a form of psychosis that has simply been normalized?

If Jesus isn't the son of God, then a Christian has lost contact with reality when they believe Jesus is hearing their prayers and will come back to Earth one day. It is delusional, is it not? If there is no gods that is.
As theists don't all agree with each other, some of them have to be wrong. So we know for sure that some religious people are delusional, right? Believing reality for what it is not.

Mental illness is no light topic and I don't intend to be using it lightly here. A genuine question this is.

It's absolutely a psychosis if, for one, God, or any god, does not exist, and two, any other tenets of one's religion is not true. ...but, that's the problem with atheism - how does one explain such a prevalent psychosis throughout all history of man, amongst every single culture and society? Even the lower level creatures, who have a fraction of the intellect that man has, do not behave in such a demented and psychotic manner - they do not spend billions of dollars on religious edifices and alters and shrines, offer scholarships and write dissertations and polemics and apologetics, kill in the name of the divine in war or honour killings, etc... - for something that does not exist!!!

In other words, all such activity by man proves that he's a spiritual being - such a predominant disposition cannot be ascribed to a malfunction in his brain, for whereas in all other manner of his behaviour he is the smartest and most advanced creature on earth.

Again, if there is no God, man is the most deluded and mentally impaired being on the planet. But, of course, he is obviously not, therefore another conclusion must be made as to why man invariably gravitates towards the spiritual.

 

[ChristineM]

A problem....
When a "mental illness" is endemic in 90+% of
all humans, it's really a normal condition. So
Ned Flanders & Homer Simpson are normal.
We heathens are the ones abnormal (although
not mentally ill....just superior).

Good logic there.

 

[firedragon]

Psychosis is when you perceived reality for what it is not.
a severe mental disorder in which thought and emotions are so impaired that contact is lost with external reality.

If there is no God(s), does that mean religious people are experiencing a form of psychosis that has simply been normalized?

If Jesus isn't the son of God, then a Christian has lost contact with reality when they believe Jesus is hearing their prayers and will come back to Earth one day. It is delusional, is it not? If there is no gods that is.
As theists don't all agree with each other, some of them have to be wrong. So we know for sure that some religious people are delusional, right? Believing reality for what it is not.

Mental illness is no light topic and I don't intend to be using it lightly here. A genuine question this is.

Your question is based on an "if".

IF you are dreaming, and you think your dreams are the reality, is that a mental illness? IF you think your dog is your god is that a mental illness? IF you believe God does not exist but God does exist is that a mental illness? IF you think your wife is God is that a mental illness? IF you believe your ego is God is that a mental illness? IF you ask questions that are illogical is that a mental illness? IF you call others murderers while you are the real murderer is that a mental illness? IF you worship your child is that mental illness?

This whataboutism can go on forever. It's useless.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Are religious people mentally ill / psychotic?: Generally not. But they have beliefs which bind them. Should I say 'slave mentality'. They deny reality.

 

[an anarchist]

Then stop.
To think that the OP characterization of psychosis is anything other than preposterously shallow and insufficient is remarkably naive.

Stop? You assume I’m taking psychosis lightly. I don’t. I assure you I am clinically more psychotic than you, by measures of magnitude. When I see religious people, I see my delusional self in them. Perhaps you don’t want to see religious people as delusional because it paints an unpleasant picture in your head.
I must be naive, because I don't see what you mean. You must be thinking shallowly, because I'm not being shallow. See how easy it is to characterize someone else?
Religion perhaps can be delusional thinking on a mass scale. Now that's worrisome. I'm asking if that's the case. So EXCUSE me.

That's more than a little worrisome.

Please elaborate. I am super curious. How is me asking this question worrisome? What does it imply? What kind of person does asking this question make me? What exactly is worrisome @Jayhawker Soule ???????????

 

[Aupmanyav]

The problem is that atheists seem to be saying they cannot be wrong? That they are infallible? That they trust their error prone human reasoning so much that it is unthinkable that they could be wrong? Will they ever question themselves? Isn’t that delusional to believe that God cannot exist?

Do you think the above does not apply to those who believe in existence of Gods and prophets with various labels? Son, Messenger, Manifestation, Mahdi? Existence of God, soul, heaven, hell, resurrection also is a product of human reasoning, although faulty and without evidence.

 

[an anarchist]

Also, @Jayhawker Soule , you say it’s worrisome that my question was a genuine one? It’s worrisome you think that. Asking questions that stimulate my knowledge and further my understanding of religion and people and life is worrisome????? Asking this question on this forum as opened me to many perspectives, and you are worried about it? Haha ok ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Mock Turtle]

No religious people are not mentally ill

As atheists wonder how can we believe in something that we can't see, and can't prove, theists also wonder how atheists think the whole think started out of nothing, or just by accident

I'm not sure that is true. Perhaps many of the non-religious and/or atheists/agnostics just accept that we might not know all, or even the most important aspects of human existence and the universe, even though many explanations are forthcoming. Probably many, like me, will be reasonably satisfied as to not knowing - rather than perhaps just giving in and believing one of the many religious explanations. If you were born in another country are you sure you would actually be a Muslim?

As to the OP, no I don't believe that those with any particular religious belief are mentally ill. I think it all boils down to what some people will accept and some just won't, regardless of any apparent consequences. That is, that perhaps some will probably try to be more impartial and not be swayed by emotion and/or what has occurred throughout history and/or as to the numbers believing - which often are factors as to why some tend to believe and others not. Not forgetting the education one often receives.