Monday 21 December 2015

“Doc, don’t you think most mental illnesses are spiritual attacks?”



This is a common question I encounter during some of our mental health awareness campaign programs. More often than not most people refer to episodes of mental breakdown as periods of “attacks”.
I consider myself as also being a spiritual person however here is my usual response to this commonly asked question

1. I believe that mental illnesses are not more spiritual than other physical illnesses. For instance the Bible listed madness1 as a curse however it also listed fever2, inflammation1, burning fever1 and blindness2 as curses too. Do we then say when someone is blind or has a fever for instance, that he or she is cursed or demon possessed? The Bible records that Jesus cast out a demon from a ‘mad’ man and after the demons left, the man became sane.3 The same Bible recorded that Jesus also cast out a demon from a speech impaired (dumb) man too and the man started speaking.4 So will it be logical to argue that because of this isolated report that “majority” of speech impaired (dumb) persons are possessed? If this-"majority deduction"- doesn’t apply to the speech impaired why then is it different regarding mental illnesses?


 
 2.     Because science cannot explain the actual cause of most mental illnesses then it must be spiritual. Well you see it was just in the 19th century – 1873 to be precise – that G.H. Armauer Hansen isolated the bacteria – Mycobacterium Leprae – that causes leprosy even though for thousands of years prior to that discovery leprosy was believed to be largely a curse from God or the gods. My point here is that because something is a popular belief for thousands of years does not make it true. I also believe that it is just a matter of time that causes of various mental illnesses will be better understood just like Leprosy is now better understood despite thousands of years of wrong myths and ignorance.
Like I said earlier, I consider myself a spiritual person and a man of faith, but the aim of this post is to cause a rethink of the notion that mental illnesses are largely “spiritual attacks”. This popularly held belief, particularly in Africa, has prevented many from seeking more appropriate and effective treatments that could have helped with many unnecessary years of suffering.
Let’s spread the awareness and not the stigma because "When you are better educated about what you are dealing with, then you're never without hope." Remember that people with mental illness can live more optimally fulfilling lives therefore talk to a professional today.
 
*Bible References: 1. Deuteronomy 28:28; 2. Deuteronomy 28:22; 3. Matthew 8: 28-34; 4. Luke 11: 14
 
NB: I gladly look forward to your comments, contributions and questions.
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