Are religious people mentally ill / psychotic?

[an anarchist]

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.

 

[ChristineM]

I read this a while ago
This neuroscientist says religion is a mental illness

One guys view

 

[mangalavara]

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

What do religious people say that they experience?

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.

If Jesus is not the Son of God (as in the Son of the God of Israel) yet some individuals have reasons to believe that he hears their prayers, maybe he does exist and that what most people believe about him is not true?

As theists don't all agree with each other, some of them have to be wrong.

From an Eastern perspective, they can disagree with each other yet adore the same divine being.

So we know for sure that some religious people are delusional, right? Believing reality for what it is not.

What is this ‘reality’ that you speak of?

 

[RAYYAN]

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

 

[MikeF]

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.

People can hold false or erroneous beliefs for reasons other than mental illness. Our beliefs are malleable, and can be instilled from conditioning and indoctrination. Remember, for many, training and indoctrination in these types of beliefs begin as a child once language comprehension is achieved. Add to this constant reinforcements throughout society, and it is quite understandable why a normative healthy brain can believe in things that are not true. It isn't limited to religious beliefs either. It includes societal customs and taboo's as well.

Beyond indoctrination, one can arrive at a false belief by drawing conclusion or making inferences from insufficient information. With out all the facts we can often go astray.

So no, being religious does not necessarily mean someone is mentally ill.

 

[sun rise]

Some religious people are mentally ill. Some atheists are mentally ill. Some religious people are fanatics. Some atheists are fanatics.

 

[Kenny]

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.

Actually, for Christians, it takes our psychosis away and puts us in our right mind. (When done properly)

 

[Twilight Hue]

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

Atheists are simply one without gods.

There is no philosophy or dogma associated with atheism.

 

[RAYYAN]

Atheists are simply one without gods.

There is no philosophy or dogma associated with atheism.

I know

 

[It Aint Necessarily So]

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?

Most theists don't fit that description of severe impairment. And most that do probably weren't made that way by their religions, but rather, were drawn to it for that reason. And really, if one compartmentalizes his faith and doesn't let it bleed into the decisions he makes, it's relatively harmless to most believers. Unfortunately, many do. They reject science or vote for a given political party against their own interests because of these beliefs, and this harms them and others around them, but doesn't rise to mental illness.

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?

I reserve the word delusion for incorrect ideas that people come up with in their own, like the pope being an alien. Buying into false conspiracy theories, for example, is common among people that would not otherwise be called mentally ill. Buying into the errors of a religion's doctrine is closer to that than mental illness.

Sam Harris said, "George Bush says he speaks to god every day, and Christians love him for it. If George Bush said he spoke to God through his hair dryer, they would think he was mad. I fail to see how the addition of a hair dryer makes it any more absurd." I have to disagree with him there. That's the difference between an idiosyncratic belief that's way outside of the norm and the groupthink of religion.

 

[sun rise]

Actually, for Christians, it takes our psychosis away and puts us in our right mind. (When done properly)

If you mean "psychosis" in the medical/scientific sense, that is not correct.

 

[stvdv]

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

Are religious people mentally ill / psychotic?

NO

BECAUSE

Reality trumps "external Reality"

 

[Spirit of Light]

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.

A very easy answer to your question.
No!

 

[Orbit]

Some people who are mentally ill are drawn to religion (I'm thinking about delusions of grandeur). But that doesn't mean all who are drawn to religion are mentally ill, and many had no real choice but were born into a religion.

 

[Kenny]

If you mean "psychosis" in the medical/scientific sense, that is not correct.

In context of the OP... I think I have the leeway.

 

[Heyo]

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.

Delusion is defined as a fixed, unchangeable, false belief. Except when it's religious.
The DSM had to make a special plead to exclude religion from what is otherwise a mental illness. I think that says it all. If it weren't that common, religion would be seen as just another conspiracy theory.
Now, there has to be another criterion for some untypical behaviour to be classified as illness and that is that it has to cause suffering in the individual or others. By that measure, religion is a malfunction of the brain not severe enough to count as an illness for most believers.

 

[dybmh]

I think being open or receptive to psychosis facilitates a mystical experience. That's why so many turn to drugs seeking one. The drugs chemically induce a temporary psychosis.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

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

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

A genuine question this is.

That's more than a little worrisome.

 

[Revoltingest]

I read this a while ago
This neuroscientist says religion is a mental illness

One guys view

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).

 

[Vinayaka]

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.

Some people are. Mental illness, as you say, is nothing to kid about. Contact with external reality is the key. A mentally ill person literally cannot function. Things like making their own bed, cooking, driving, and lots of other fairly ordinary things to the rest of us are real challenges for the mentally ill. That's why they often get institutionalised ... to protect themselves and others from the repercussions the disease may cause.