Let me preface my remarks on mental illness by first stating that even psychiatrists admit that there is no such thing as mental illness and no scientific tests that can prove that there are chemical imbalances in the brain that cause any of the so called disorders that people are labeled with today. Bi-Polar however, IS a chemical imbalance that can be helped with medication. See this video"No Science, No cures."
With that being said, just like in many areas today, we tend to laugh at what the Bible says about something, and then later on we find out it was right all along. Actually, the Bible never refers to someone as being "mentally ill" but it does call them "demon possessed." or as "having a sickness or disease." And interestingly enough, we have no trouble celebrating or believing in Halloween, or watching scary movies, such as the "Exorcist" or " The Omen", or anything having to do with the devil, and witches, and demonic characters, but when the Bible talks about them and says they are real, we scoff. Demon possession in our society is believed in movies, etc. but is not believed in the Bible.
And yet many go to psychics, fortune tellers, practice witchcraft, cast spells and curses, read their daily horoscopes and plan their lives around the horoscopes, participate in Black Sabbaths, read the Satanic Bible, participate in magic, and engage in every kind of debauchery that is out there. Many have no trouble believing in these demonic things when the world is the one celebrating, promoting or portraying them. But when the Bible talks about them in a serious way, saying that there is such a thing as "demon possession," we laugh and scoff.
God actually attributes any abnormality in thinking to the influence of the devil and demonic spirits. Modern psychology, on the other hand uses labels such as Schizophrenic, Psychopathic, Borderline Personality Disorder, Anti-social Personality Disorder, Attention Deficit Disorder, etc. There are over 300 labels that are attributed to the mentally ill by the psychiatrists, and psychologists.
Jesus did not say one word about mental illness, but he did say many things about demon possession and physical sickness and deformity. You have to admit, that the symptoms of all of these modern day disorders are very abusive, dangerous and morally evil symptoms.
Take the case of ADHD, a highly diagnosed disorder today, where tons of kids are doped up on Ritalin, and other similar medications, when the real problem is a behavioral one and parents who refuse or don't know how to discipline their children. Parents who want their kids to love them so much they don't want their anger or don't want to hear that their child hates them. Thus they allow them to become spoiled and raise their children to think that there are no consequences in life. The reality though is they have a child who is rebellious and does not want to do anything that takes attention and work.
And you have the parents of these types of children who would rather be their kid's "best friend" rather than their parent. Many of these children simply have no consequences for bad behavior. And psychiatrists, rather than to train the parent how to discipline their children, just hand them a prescription to medicate their child instead so that they can control them.
How many kids in schools are on medication for this disorder? Thousands. They are really doped up zombies on dangerous, life threatening medications that ARE altering their brains in a dangerous way. And it is simply an easy way to calm them down rather than to hold them accountable for their bad behavior.
In other words, medication is a cop out for loving your child enough to require them to conform to society and behave like a decent human being. What do we do when we want to catch a lion on the loose? We shoot a tranquilizer dart at them to subdue them, calm them down, so that we can control them. This is what is happening to out of control children today. They are being tranquilized so that they are easier to handle and teachers and parents can control them because it is easier to dope them up then it is to actually discipline them and give them consequences for bad behavior.
The Bible states: DISCIPLINE a child in the way he/she should go, and they will not depart from it. The problem is parents who refuse to be "consistent" with the discipline of their children and who don't give consequences for their bad behavior. ADHD is NOT a mental illness, it is a behavioral problem of a rebellious child. While there may be a few rare cases where a child is not rebellious, and is disciplined and still needs medication to control their ability to concentrate or sit still, these are not the norm. Most cases of ADHD are the result of parents who allow their children to walk all over them in order to maintain their love and friendship. They don't want their child to be mad at them so they "give in" to whatever their demands are. There are however, legitimate cases of children who are allergic to some foods that make them hyperactive, and these are the ones that should be corrected with removal of the allergenic substance. And of course if someone is found to have a brain tumor then that is a scientific finding that would explain someone's abnormal behavior.
People who are labeled by Psychologists and Psychiatrists as mentally ill, or as having personality disorders, DO commit murder, and rape, and they destroy property, and they hurt animals and people, and they set fires, and they do sadistic things to others. Not only that, but they enjoy and get a "rush" from watching someone else in pain. This is pure evil. None of the things that supposedly mentally ill people do are nice things. They are usually evil, hurtful and sadistic things done to others or against themselves or society. Someone always gets hurt.
But Christian counselors know that at the root of all disorders is some type of sin that is being committed. And even though we ALL sin, those that society labels as "mentally ill" are sinning to such a degree that they are either destroying themselves, or terrorizing and destroying others, animals, and property. They are consistently choosing to do the wrong thing over the right thing. Since we have "free will" we can choose to participate in evil activities, or we can choose to have nothing to do with them. It is a question of our values and morals, and resisting temptations, and following the "light" instead of living in the "darkness."
God has said that he has given each of us a "conscience" that will guide us to know right from wrong behavior and that we have also been given the "free will" to follow that conscience or ignore it. Actually, it is the Holy Spirit that guides us into right behavior and truth. To the degree that we choose to ignore that inner guidance, is the degree that we will sin and the magnitude of those sins will manifest itself.
In the Bible are many scriptures referring to wicked spirits that take possession of someone. And many times, these spirits inhabit someone without their knowledge or conscious choice.
1.) Acts 5:15-16
" The sick were brought out of beds and couches into the street so that at Peter's coming his shadow might fall on some of them. And a crowd from the cities around Jerusalem also came bringing their sick and those who were beset by unclean spirits, and they were cured." ( Notice that this scripture differentiates between those who are "sick" and those who are "beset by unclean spirits.")
2.) Acts 8:6
" And the crowds with one mind listened to the things Philip said when they heard and saw the miracles that he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed by them, and many were paralyzed and lame and cured. And the joy was great in that city." ( Once again there is a differentiation between those who were physically lame or paralyzed and those who had unclean spirits.)
3.) Acts 19:11
" And God worked unusual works of power by the hands of Paul, so that if even handkerchiefs or aprons from next to his skin were brought to the sick, the diseases left them and the wicked spirits came out of them.
(Notice that in these scriptures there is a distinction made between those with a "disease" and those with "wicked spirits." )
This does not mean that every person with issues is demon possessed. But it does mean that at the ROOT of their problems is some type of sin that they are committing. Being disobedient to parents is a sin. Being rebellious to the point of refusing to obey people in authority, such as parents, teachers, police, etc. is a sin because disobedience is a SIN. So is physically hitting others, stealing, lying, cheating, being cruel to animals, and people, torturing animals, burning down buildings, raping and murdering people, etc. These are all SINS, not mental illness. They are done by a "choice" to follow evil rather than good.
There are some people today who will tell you that Jesus just said "wicked Spirits" when he really meant "mental illness" because they would not have understood that term in those days. However, Jesus does not lie. He does not say something is true when it is not. He does not tell a lie to convey a truth. If there was such a thing as "mental illness" he would have explained it and said so back then. I highly doubt he would cast a legion of spirits out of a man that numbered 2000, as he did one time, and drive them into a herd of 2000 pigs that jumped off of a cliff into the ocean, if there was no such thing as demon possession. If so, then he would have said, I am now casting 2000 personality disorders into 2000 pigs to heal this person's mental illness. How insane does that sound?
Besides that, Jesus spoke of the devil as being a real Entity many times. He told us to "Be on guard because the devil is prowling around like a roaring Lion seeking those whom he may devour." Another verse says the devil is the "Father of lies", which of course is the trademark of psychopaths, ncarcisisi and pathological liars. The Bible teaches us that the devil has one goal and that is to " Seek, Kill, and Destroy" us.
Mental illness is all about seeking people to hurt, destroy and kill. And since the devil's goal is to kill and destroy us, some people even kill themselves. Evil does not have to literally kill someone, you can kill someone's marriage, their job, their reputation, their goals and dreams. You can kill their desire to live.
Jesus died on the Cross to overcome Evil and the devil and to save us from Evil. So Jesus believed in and cast out demons from people who were making them do horrendous things. And people today are still possessed by evil spirits. They are just more sophisticated in their evil. Evil comes disguised looking like "an angel of light" so that you will be fooled. Demon possession can be very subtle and does not have to look like the "Exorcist." Evil can look like what is happening in our government as we speak. Are all those politicians mentally ill or just plain evil? Evil can be dressed in an expensive business suit and does not have to wear a black cape and carry a pitch fork. It is many times not blatantly obvious, but looks like the nice American guy who lives next door to you.
Remember when the comedienne Flip Wilson said " The devil made me do it?" Well, that was funny for awhile, except the devil cannot make you do anything unless you give him an open door to inhabit your soul. The "Son of Sam" who killed many couples in New York said the devil told him to kill those people. And Jeffery Dalmer who killed hundreds of boys and actually ate parts of them, said there was this "evil" inside of him that he could not control. That he knew what he had done was horrendous and wrong, but that he could not stop it and that he had to be kept in prison or he would kill and kill again.
Ted Bundy, the psychopathic law student who murdered hundreds of young women, actually snarled and bit them like a monster. He blamed his addiction to pornography as the reason for his crimes. Was he mentally ill or was he SINNING? Let's see, he lusted, he physically hurt and tortured his victims, and he finally committed murder. ALL of those are SINS.
Unless we can find an area in the human brain that tells a person to kill someone, and so far, science has found none, then mental illness is a myth. There is no place in the brain that says "Psychopath here" or Borderline Personality Disorder here" etc. Whereas in true sickness doctors can SEE the culprit. They can SEE the cancer cells, they can SEE the brain tumor, they can SEE the heart disease, etc.
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