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 Topic: American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness

 (Read 6746 times)
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  • American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness
     OP - July 17, 2015, 06:35 PM
    American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness


    According to the American Psychological Association (APA), a strong and passionate belief in a deity or higher power, to the point where it impairs one’s ability to make conscientious decisions about common sense matters, will now be classified as a mental illness.

    The controversial ruling comes after a 5-year study by the APA showed devoutly religious people often suffered from anxiety, emotional distress, hallucinations, and paranoia. The study stated that those who perceived God as punitive was directly related to their poorer health, while those who viewed God as benevolent did not suffer as many mental problems. The religious views of both groups often resulted in them being disconnected from reality.

    Dr. Lillian Andrews, professor of psychology, stated, “Every year thousands of people die after refusing life-saving treatment on religious grounds. Even when being told ‘you will die without this treatment’ patients reject the idea and believe that their God will still save them. Those lives could be saved simply by classifying those people as mentally unfit for decision making.”

    “Jehovah Witnesses for instance,” Dr. Andrews continued, “will not accept blood under any circumstance. They would rather die than to receive life-saving donor blood. Many religious people believe they have “healing power” in their hands. Many believe they can communicate with God using a personal language, which is unknown to anyone but the communicator and God (known as speaking in tongues). Many often tell of seeing spirits. All of these are signs of a mental break and a loss of touch with reality. Religious belief and the angry God phenomenon has caused chaos, destruction, death, and wars for centuries. The time for evolving into a modern society and classifying these archaic beliefs as a mental disorder has been long overdue. This is the first of many steps to a positive direction.”

    With the new classification, the APA will lobby to introduce legislation which would allow doctors the right to force life-saving treatment on those who refuse it for spiritual reasons on the grounds that they are mentally incapable of making decisions about their health.

    The American Psychological Association says more information about the study and the new classification will be made available to the public in their upcoming journal (which is expected to be release in early August).

    http://www.thenewsnerd.com/health/apa-to-classify-belief-in-god-as-a-mental-illness/


    Interesting ideas here, not sure about some of the implications but an interesting development.
  • American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness
     Reply #1 - July 17, 2015, 06:52 PM
    I have serious concerns about the APA, which has a long history of problematic stances -- it fights to glorify the profession and secure professional opportunities, but has shown a rather contemptible willingness to ally itself with any cause that will expand its sphere of 'expertise' and income.  You may have seen the intense controversy that arose recently about its endorsement of psychologists working to help with torture, which (even worse) the APA appears to have lied about and covered up.

    http://www.theguardian.com/law/2015/jul/10/us-torture-doctors-psychologists-apa-prosecution

    But that's just the latest in a long history of disturbing positions taken by the APA, including its classification of homosexuality as a mental disorder (reversed in 1973).

    Certainly religious beliefs are commonly at play in various cases of insanity, but the APA's tendency to classify everything as 'mental illness' subject to their expertise and requiring their professional services is something that should be recognized.  Much like how according to the civil engineer associations, enormous amounts of money must be poured into civil engineering projects, and according to teacher unions, schools are critically underfunded ... that there is some truth to the underlying contention (funding can always be improved) doesn't take away the need to be critical about the claims of organizations that are devoted to shilling for their members as hard as possible.
  • American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness
     Reply #2 - July 17, 2015, 06:59 PM
    Not sure if i agree with all that,  believers may mimic signs of mental illness but it isnt really,, you could say the same for any people who follow an ideology or strict regime, theyre just conditioned to think that way out of fear, conformity, mass hypnosis and so forth.
  • American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness
     Reply #3 - July 17, 2015, 07:04 PM
    Exactly what deegre of belief?

    I think this is kinda exaggerated. Crazy people exist in every form.
  • American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness
     Reply #4 - July 17, 2015, 07:05 PM
    Yup! Interesting Zaotar and Suki, glad to have some discussion here!
  • American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness
     Reply #5 - July 17, 2015, 10:45 PM
    Can one not argue that the belief may expose mental illnesses already present rather than create the illness. Like consumption of alcohol for some brings forward an addictive personality disorder which was not easy to observe before.
  • American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness
     Reply #6 - July 17, 2015, 11:04 PM
    ^ I tend to agree with that. It's my suspicion that religion rarely comes first, although convincing someone that he's a few mistakes away from Hellfire can obviously spawn some paranoid behaviors/thoughts.

    Also, while I tend to think that belief in a god in the way that I typically observe it is irrational and religion can be a lens through which you will view the world in a skewed way, I wonder if this would be pushing the limits of "mental illness" to encompass too much.
  • American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness
     Reply #7 - July 17, 2015, 11:50 PM
    Quote
    I explain why it's a mistake to describe religion or religiosity as a mental illness or mental disorder.


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL4cb-P6Bek
    My mind runs, I can never catch it even if I get a head start.
  • American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness
     Reply #8 - July 18, 2015, 01:57 AM
    I think that article was from the Onion or some other humorous source like that.
    Don't let Hitler have the street.
  • American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness
     Reply #9 - July 18, 2015, 06:56 AM
    OK a couple of things.

    1) This simply isn't true, the original source is a parody news source.
    2) Most if not all of the symptoms of the kind of religious devotion that can lead to people harming themselves or others are covered already under existing labels.
    3) The APA is more of a political organization than a medical organization. That's not true of the psychological wellness profession as a whole--especially in recent years, with the push towards Evidence-Based Practice (EBP; basically, the scientific method) instead of pet theories; but this particular agency (the American Psychological Association) is. Yes, Freud was a nutter. But the idea of the Four Humours was at least equally ridiculous, and stuck around as the primary treatment method much, much longer than Freud's ideas. Astrology was ridiculous, but it gave birth to astronomy; and yet even today, with all we know about the cosmos, you can still find your horoscope in tons of newspapers. So yes, psychology was founded by some pretty crazy people; but that doesn't mean you should throw the baby out with the bathwater, it has come a long way since then.
    4) Going back to the original story, new disease labels are not published in journal articles; a journal is where you make the case for why you think something should be considered for inclusion into the DSM, and then if enough scholarly studies can be done or enough political pressure is placed on the APA, it will be added to the DSM. Same goes for getting something removed, but obviously in reverse. And yes sometimes, they get things wrong; but with the move towards EBP, and a new generation of people who are being trained to look for evidence instead of public opinion in their work, I do think this will improve. Freud died in 1939. Not a lot of generations of psychologists have happened between him and us, but as the older people who are in charge of the big institutions die off or retire, it's going to get easier to refocus the efforts of the APA and other institutions.
    Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for I have a sonic screwdriver, a tricorder, and a Type 2 phaser.
  • American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness
     Reply #10 - July 18, 2015, 10:50 AM
     Cheesy
    `But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
     `Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: `we're all mad here. I'm mad.  You're mad.'
     `How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice.
     `You must be,' said the Cat, `or you wouldn't have come here.'
  • American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness
     Reply #11 - July 18, 2015, 12:43 PM
    That's good، although the concept of religion as a mental illness is hardly new. It's tempting, at least to me, but unfair.
  • American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness
     Reply #12 - July 18, 2015, 01:04 PM
    Funny though, especially considering it's yankieland.
    `But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
     `Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: `we're all mad here. I'm mad.  You're mad.'
     `How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice.
     `You must be,' said the Cat, `or you wouldn't have come here.'
  • American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness
     Reply #13 - July 18, 2015, 01:47 PM
    I don't understand what you mean but how dare you sir.
  • American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness
     Reply #14 - July 18, 2015, 01:48 PM
    Cos that country be all religious and shit. Be less funny if it was the UK or Sweden or Japan or something.
    `But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
     `Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: `we're all mad here. I'm mad.  You're mad.'
     `How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice.
     `You must be,' said the Cat, `or you wouldn't have come here.'
  • American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness
     Reply #15 - July 18, 2015, 02:37 PM
    Ohh, true. I don't know what I was being defensive for, we're super embarrassing.
  • American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness
     Reply #16 - July 18, 2015, 02:55 PM
     
    Quote from: Quod Sum Eris on July 18, 2015, 01:48 PM
    Cos that country be all religious and shit. 

      Yap.. that is the reason the planet needs  million QSE's on internet..

    Quote from: lua on July 18, 2015, 02:37 PM
    Ohh, true. I don't know what I was being defensive for, we're super embarrassing.

     well that is NOT new  for people reading you lua...lol..

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz7o21hyo2Y

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FjY3_vjsn8


    I am  sure  such crock pots are there in every religion.. Imagine 90% of world population walking/talking/thinking  in such brain washed trance with freaks heading mega churches...mosques..temples.. whatever...
    Do not let silence become your legacy.. Question everything   
    I renounced my faith to become a kafir, 
    the beloved betrayed me and turned in to  a Muslim     
  • American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness
     Reply #17 - July 18, 2015, 03:03 PM
    Quote
    well that is NOT new  for people reading you lua...lol..


    That's it. You've now dropped down to my second favorite forum user.
  • American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness
     Reply #18 - July 18, 2015, 03:07 PM
    Quote from: lua on July 18, 2015, 03:03 PM
    That's it. You've now dropped down to my second favorite forum user.

    lua give me the name of your Favorite FORMER 2nd forum user....  I will call CIAKGBMOSSADRAWISI  to care of that guy/girl
    Do not let silence become your legacy.. Question everything   
    I renounced my faith to become a kafir, 
    the beloved betrayed me and turned in to  a Muslim     
  • American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness
     Reply #19 - July 18, 2015, 03:09 PM
    Quote from: galfromusa on July 18, 2015, 06:56 AM
    OK a couple of things.

    1) This simply isn't true, the original source is a parody news source.
    2) Most if not all of the symptoms of the kind of religious devotion that can lead to people harming themselves or others are covered already under existing labels.
    3) The APA is more of a political organization than a medical organization. That's not true of the psychological wellness profession as a whole--especially in recent years, with the push towards Evidence-Based Practice (EBP; basically, the scientific method) instead of pet theories; but this particular agency (the American Psychological Association) is. Yes, Freud was a nutter. But the idea of the Four Humours was at least equally ridiculous, and stuck around as the primary treatment method much, much longer than Freud's ideas. Astrology was ridiculous, but it gave birth to astronomy; and yet even today, with all we know about the cosmos, you can still find your horoscope in tons of newspapers. So yes, psychology was founded by some pretty crazy people; but that doesn't mean you should throw the baby out with the bathwater, it has come a long way since then.
    4) Going back to the original story, new disease labels are not published in journal articles; a journal is where you make the case for why you think something should be considered for inclusion into the DSM, and then if enough scholarly studies can be done or enough political pressure is placed on the APA, it will be added to the DSM. Same goes for getting something removed, but obviously in reverse. And yes sometimes, they get things wrong; but with the move towards EBP, and a new generation of people who are being trained to look for evidence instead of public opinion in their work, I do think this will improve. Freud died in 1939. Not a lot of generations of psychologists have happened between him and us, but as the older people who are in charge of the big institutions die off or retire, it's going to get easier to refocus the efforts of the APA and other institutions.


    Thanks for the input. Didn't realise it was a parody/satire source. An interesting discussion and debate to be had tho regardless. Is religious beliefs that are adhered to strictly, skirting around rational and logical thought a mental illness or weakness?
  • American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness
     Reply #20 - July 18, 2015, 03:32 PM
    Quote from: yeezevee on July 18, 2015, 03:07 PM
    lua give me the name of your Favorite FORMER 2nd forum user....  I will call CIAKGBMOSSADRAWISI  to care of that guy/girl


    His name was bigmo and because of you he's now in third. I will need some time before I trust anyone again to be first favorite.
  • American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness
     Reply #21 - July 18, 2015, 03:43 PM
    Quote from: lua on July 18, 2015, 03:32 PM
    His name was bigmo and because of you he's now in third. I will need some time before I trust anyone again to be first favorite.

     Oh bigmo?? well then this smallmo still has a chance .,  as long as heroes of Islam don't find who smallmo is .. this smallmo still has a chance.. Cheesy

    But but you people are strange and your country is strange lua .. LOTS OF MONEY THEY SPEND ON  drugs like  Abilify (aripiprazole):



    Quote
    http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/making-a-killing-the-untold-story-of-psychotropic-drugging/

    Psychotropic drugs. It's the story of big money-drugs that fuel a $330 billion psychiatric industry, without a single cure.

    The cost in human terms is even greater-these drugs now kill an estimated 42,000 people every year.

    And the death count keeps rising. Containing more than 175 interviews with lawyers, mental health experts, the families of victims and the survivors themselves, this riveting documentary rips the mask off psychotropic drugging and exposes a brutal but well-entrenched money-making machine.

    Before these drugs were introduced in the market, people who had these conditions would not have been given any drugs at all.

    So it is the branding of a disease and it is the branding of a drug for a treatment of a disease that did not exist before the industry made the disease.


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luKsQaj0hzs
    Do not let silence become your legacy.. Question everything   
    I renounced my faith to become a kafir, 
    the beloved betrayed me and turned in to  a Muslim     
  • American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness
     Reply #22 - July 18, 2015, 03:46 PM
    Quote from: lua on July 18, 2015, 03:32 PM
    His name was bigmo and because of you he's now in third. I will need some time before I trust anyone again to be first favorite.


    I was sure it would have been the aspartame dude.
  • American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness
     Reply #23 - July 18, 2015, 03:49 PM
    Grin He's still in the top ten.
  • American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness
     Reply #24 - July 18, 2015, 05:39 PM
    Quote from: Lilyesque on July 18, 2015, 03:09 PM
    Thanks for the input. Didn't realise it was a parody/satire source. An interesting discussion and debate to be had tho regardless. Is religious beliefs that are adhered to strictly, skirting around rational and logical thought a mental illness or weakness?


    It's not really about the beliefs themselves; it's about what drives people to follow them at the expense of all else. So, for example, it may be somewhat normal to believe that there are beings who are more powerful than us out there somewhere and that some of them are probably malevolent, but if you believe that you can see demons lurking in the shadows or hear them talking, then you've probably got a bit of psychosis. It may be normal (at least for us as humans, with our brains that love pattern recognition and meaning) to believe that there is a purpose to our lives; but to believe that the purpose is to propagate death, destruction, or something like that probably indicates anti-social, sociopathic, or psychopathic traits. Believing that you can reasonably expect to live to the end of the day, the year, the decade, and so on, may be normal and healthy; belief that you are invulnerable to any harm probably indicates that something is wrong. Having a sense of awe and wonder about the universe is probably normal; feeling a sense of profounity for the mundane (eg, if you don't tap the wall three times, the world will be destroyed by fire [OCD], a sudden sense of unprovoked fear which is consequently attributed to a ghost or other presence [several diseases, notably temporal lobe epilepsy], or feeling that there is a deep hidden meaning in an ordinary word, group of words, or image--as exemplified by The Da Vinci Code [can be several problems: temporal lobe epilepsy, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and more]), ascribing supernatural purpose to things that are random (eg my car broke down, and it must be Satan sending me a message), and other such things may indicate a problem.

    So like I was saying, most of the things that drive people to harm themselves or others are already covered by other labels, and it's not really the fact of being religious that indicates insanity, it is whatever is driving people to follow those beliefs at the expense of all else.
    Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for I have a sonic screwdriver, a tricorder, and a Type 2 phaser.
  • American Psychological Association To Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness
     Reply #25 - July 18, 2015, 06:28 PM
    Quote from: lua on July 17, 2015, 11:04 PM
    ^ I tend to agree with that. It's my suspicion that religion rarely comes first, although convincing someone that he's a few mistakes away from Hellfire can obviously spawn some paranoid behaviors/thoughts.

    Also, while I tend to think that belief in a god in the way that I typically observe it is irrational and religion can be a lens through which you will view the world in a skewed way, I wonder if this would be pushing the limits of "mental illness" to encompass too much.


    I think this comes down to perceptive. If someone does not accept casualty then the lens they view the world through would be odd for those that do accept causality. If everything that happens in the world is God's will, a lens, then conclusions based on different events will have. For example a storm hits the east coast. Those that do not use the God lens will based conclusions on natural phenomenon. The God lens could conclude that the storm is a result of or a message from God. Hence the doomsayers claiming X storm is due to people accepting homosexuals.   
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