Religious Extremism 'May Be Categorised As Mental Illness

[Animavore]

This woman is clearly mentally ill and what they are doing here is out and open child abuse.



If this was a recently made up cult the FBI and NSA would be all over them but no, because it's 'Christianity' and it's ingrained in culture these people abuse and terrorise children with impunity. It makes me sick. Becky Fisher should be carted off to a padded-cell not wandering the streets.

[FBM]

Lots of people with mental illnesses are functional. Doesn't mean that they are healthy.

Fundamentally disagree, doesn't matter what a person thinks or believes if it doesn't interfere with their life (as they see it) or others its 'healthy'

My wife was a example, she thought the microwave had been hacked by an unknown person and was talking to her, while fucking weird it only became a mental illness when it started telling her people were trying to kill her and she started calling the police.

Same with talking to yourself or hearing voices which in most cases is actually quite normal

I suspect that most mental health professionals draw the line differently, but since I'm not one and this has affected you personally, I'm fine with just agreeing to disagree.

[MrJonno]

I was with my wife's shrink and she was discussing whether she heard voice's in her head and she does but the shrink said rightly in my opinion that these voices in her case were now normal.

A better example is people talking to god and really think he is listening, in reality terms that is completely 'nuts', its delusional and irrational however the vast majority of the human race manage to do this, hold down a job, not commit any major crimes and have what they consider a happy life. I don't see any benefit to giving people drugs or therapy to change this for most people its simply 'healthy' or normal

[Audley Strange]

Sorry that is, in itself, madness.

It is not "normal" and I suspect that was NOT what the mental health professional said. "Typical" perhaps, "something that you are going to have to endure" certainly, normal? No. I don't buy that for one second. One who starts having auditory hallucinations and paranoid ideation, no matter how minor, is suffering from one of any number of psychiatric and or neurological issues. It would be medical negligence for anyone to dismiss such, because such things can be signifiers, symptoms of serious problems.

It would be akin to a doctor saying that the retching up blood and crippling stomach pain was normal, rather than consider it a signifier of a burst ulcer.

[MrJonno]

Are you saying you don't hear voices in your head,? that you dont have an inner voice which is basically another name for consciousness. When you start thinking the voices don't 'belong' to you it may begin to be a problem. You may not literally see a little demon telling you to go for it and a little angel saying behave but most of us have some sort of similar process going on.

It's what the voices say and more importantly how you react to them that is important, god telling you not to eat pork not a big problem, god telling you that anyone selling pork should die/burn in hell, possibly a problem, obeying god and killing pork sellers a definitely problem

[Svartalf]

If the 'voices' are not recognized as your own consciousness, it's indeed a kind of madness.

[MrJonno]

If the 'voices' are not recognized as your own consciousness, it's indeed a kind of madness.

What do you mean recognised?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

You certainly could categorise religious extremism as a mental illness, you could also call religious moderation a mental illness and in fact atheism one as well (which some people have done) but it basically the concept of mental illness becomes meaningless where its used to broadly

Strawman. The extremism is the key here, not the basic attitude toward religion. Ayaan is an atheist and she ain't mentally ill, much.

[Svartalf]

If the 'voices' are not recognized as your own consciousness, it's indeed a kind of madness.

What do you mean recognised?

If the person feels they come from outside.

[Audley Strange]

Are you saying you don't hear voices in your head,? that you dont have an inner voice which is basically another name for consciousness. When you start thinking the voices don't 'belong' to you it may begin to be a problem. You may not literally see a little demon telling you to go for it and a little angel saying behave but most of us have some sort of similar process going on.

It's what the voices say and more importantly how you react to them that is important, god telling you not to eat pork not a big problem, god telling you that anyone selling pork should die/burn in hell, possibly a problem, obeying god and killing pork sellers a definitely problem

There is a difference between internal monologue (even dialogue) and auditory hallucination. There is a huge problem if you cannot differentiate between them.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Are you saying you don't hear voices in your head,? that you dont have an inner voice which is basically another name for consciousness. When you start thinking the voices don't 'belong' to you it may begin to be a problem. You may not literally see a little demon telling you to go for it and a little angel saying behave but most of us have some sort of similar process going on.

It's what the voices say and more importantly how you react to them that is important, god telling you not to eat pork not a big problem, god telling you that anyone selling pork should die/burn in hell, possibly a problem, obeying god and killing pork sellers a definitely problem

There is a difference between internal monologue (even dialogue) and auditory hallucination. There is a huge problem if you cannot differentiate between them.

I heard that!

[Audley Strange]

Did you have to move your lips while hearing it?

[mistermack]

I don't hear any voices in my head. I don't know if that's normal or abnormal. I imagine it's what most people experience.

I find it hard to conjure up a voice in my head. I can, if I think of a person, with a distinctive voice, but even then, it's just an impression of the voice without words. To hear words in my head, I first have to decide on those words.
I gave it a real try, and all I could get was completely random words. To hear a sentence, I have to think up that sentence.

Maybe the guy meant normal in it's widest sense, of "not particularly unusual".
I wouldn't personally use normal for that, but I would if I wanted to get over a reassuring message.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Did you have to move your lips while hearing it?

The sound came out of the mask on the wall. Xrehatha often tells me what to do via the mask.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I don't hear any voices in my head. I don't know if that's normal or abnormal. I imagine it's what most people experience.

When I'm reading a good book I "hear" the words, and the material is playing in my head like a movie. That may be weird, but I like it.