Comments on Elizaphanian
My wife said that back in the days when Catholics went to confession every week, there was a significantly lower level of mental illness in Catholics, because of the therapeutic value of the confessional. She further asserts, that if people utilized confession as a sacrament for all that its worth, and could look at their flaws for what they are and deal with them productively, there would be a much lesser need for mental health professionals. Of course, she has not been to confession since a Catholic priest told her that taking communion in an Episcopal Church was a mortal sin... so this must be taken with a grain of salt.
your an idiot. I hope your faith is strong because I wish for the pain and suffering be yours
You are not thy judge nor jury.
I think you need to go to a psych ward and see the people suffering and I think your thoughts may change.
Religion has had no concept of different types of mental illness and has never really had any therapeutic way of curing people except for praying, support in communities and maybe some counselling. I am not saying that these things don't work but science has developed many ways of classifying and understanding mental illness and providing alternative treatments.
I would like to know how you would spiritually explain what it is for someone that is suffering catatonia. How would a priest free that soul from that debilitating state.
Also I would like to know what you would do if a person that was hearing voices approached you for help as they wanted it to stop because they felt they were going crazy. What support could you offer. What could a priest do that a psychiatrist couldn't? How would you make it stop? In fact what some priests would say could only deepen the problem. Playing into someone's fear's further by suggesting demons. In fact not all religions would have the same view point on this matter unlike science and if was just up to religion that person could be executed like you yourself said depending on the persons religion.
Also I would like you to explain what you would do for a depressed homosexual that has had a life of persecution and abuse. How would a priest help this person better than a psychiatrist when they don't even accept their sexuality.
I would like to know where the statistics are for priests helping and curing all types of people of these ails.
At the end of the day it is up to the person that is suffering to find the right cure and the more options that are available the better the person's chances at healing. It is also up to the friend's of the person suffering to provide the right support especially in the choice of their treatment. If a person accepts they are mentally ill and takes the right medications and it improves their condition how can you say that there is something wrong with the way they healed.
I can tell you now that antidepressants have saved many lives and eased many peoples pain and helped them live normal lives. I can tell you now that anti psychotic medications have helped thousands of people from hearing voices and have helped these people live normal lives. If you think for one second that they should have chosen a priest and not medication then you are ignorant.
Also what would be wrong with someone getting spiritual help and also being on medications. The problem is that there are too many people that polarise this debate and force people to choose a side. A holistic approach would be wiser.
You just have to look at the idiot Tom Cruise to see how this ignorance manifests.
The most important thing of all is that people that are mentally ill are not discriminated against or shelved because of their diagnosis. They need care and support from the community. There are too many people that are scared of mental illness and are phobic that they could catch something. People have a distorted view of mental illness because the media portrays it badly. We always hearing of someone losing the plot and killing someone. There are misconceptions that people that are psychotic are violent. The fact is the public knows very little about it.
Spare a thought for those that don't get better and their life is full of suffering no matter what treatment they choose.
Commenting by HaloScan
