Are religious people mentally imbalanced? (serious questio)

[chirox]

I'm a Paramedic who was bought up Catholic, but no longer follows any God.
The reason for my question is that I recently had a few classroom days with a Mental Health Professional and he stated that Religion is mass paranoia and therefore people who believe in a God are mentally unstable to some degree. He didnt say that they were insane, just that in order for a human to believe in something that is totally unquantifiable, invisible, all powerful and all knowing, requires certain functions in the brain to be switched on (or off I suppose?), and that Atheists such as myself are in fact missing a piece of code somewhere or it's been eliminated from our conciousness.

I'd love to hear from MH Pro's if there are any here, it struck me as quite odd that a Professional could say this so openly. Posted in Science as I'm looking for a Scientific rather than esoteric answer.

[chirox]

GP Ron

[Zeuhl]

<<if believers outnumber non-believers by five to one (that seems to be about the ratio), surely it's the latter who must be considered unbalanced? >>

Not sure it's a popularity contest.

If it was, perhaps we should include all the sentient creatures. There are no signs of other species practising religion and no signs that they suffer mental illness except when caused by physiological problems.

It seems to be humans who torture themselves with questions about the unknowable.

I'm not sure religion is a particularly good solution. Just because telling people a load of boloney (Father Christmas is coming, Jesus loves you, 72 virgins are waiting for you, this crystal will cure you, your reward will come in heaven)

just because all that makes them 'peaceful' or happy' - doesn't make it right. Might as well give everybody valium or 'opium of the masses'.
.

[woofgang]

was the MHP teaching the class? Its quite a strange POV in my experience of MHP's who are usually more accepting of the lifestyles of others provided that those lifestyles don't damage the individual or other people...so to castigate all believers in such a way seems to me a bit strange IMO

[Zeuhl]

It is a quandary for the MH professional though.

'Doctor, I hear voices talking to me and Elvis visits me at night to tell me what to do. You do believe me don't you?'

Ok. I believe you hear these voices, why do you think it's Elvis? probe/challenge etc etc Reach for prescription pad!

Why is this any different to

'Doctor, I speak to God everynight and Jesus visits me to tell me what to do. You do believe me don't you?'

Seems remarkably similar to me.
.

[chirox]

Yes, it was a week long Mental Health course, this guy had us for two days. It was quite refreshing tbh.

[sandyRoe]

Carl Gustav Jung famously stated that the people who enjoyed the best mental health had a religious faith.

[Zeuhl]

Yeah but he was nuts!
.

[woofgang]

the answer is I believe that you believe it. If the voices and Elvis tell them that they are loved and valued and to be nice to people, fine...if the voices whoever they are tell the person they are a piece of broccoli and to self harm and attack people NOT fine.
And that IMO and experience is the usual MHP reaction.

[Zeuhl]

Good answer Woolfy
.

[Calibax]

Since religion in one form or another is found in all human populations all over the world it suggests that it is hard-wired in us and that it conveys some sort of evolutionary advantage. I can't see it being a mental illness however delusional it probably is.

[sandyRoe]

Wasn't it Freud who became paranoid? Jung just had a nervous breakdown when he was a youngster.
What kind of a mental health professional would openly state that believers were bonkers?

[naomi24]

It strikes me that the religious are self-obsessed, dependent and afraid, but the vast majority never really think about it so don't consider their belief in something for which there is no evidence, to be in any way unusual. In fact they feel perfectly entitled to take offence at the very suggestion that there is no evidence for the existence of their God - even though there isn't - and society supports them! What a ridiculously cockeyed situation!

jno, //Among possible conclusions: ah, they're only happy because they're stupid; if only they knew the truth...
or: if believers outnumber non-believers by five to one (that seems to be about the ratio), surely it's the latter who must be considered unbalanced?//

That's incredibly wonky logic. Unlike the religious, no rational atheist claims to 'know the truth'. To imply that someone who doesn't believe in something for which there is no evidence is unbalanced, and that because the majority believe in it, it must be true, is ... well .... unbalanced.

steg, no, not like atheists at all. As I said, unlike the religious, no intelligent atheist claims to know the truth. Given the proof, a rational atheist would become a believer.

Zeuhl, //Yeah but he was nuts!// Haaaaa! Love it!

[lcg]

most mad people i've met at work express some religious claptrap...there might be something in it, you know (ducks, covers and waits for the backlash). amusingly, we have never had two 'god's' or 'jesuses' at the same time. i wonder what would happen...x

[naomi24]

Sandy, an honest one?

[Calibax]

There is an interesting article in this week's New Scientist which suggests that belief in gods is an extention of the human tendency to anthropomorphise. The way we ascribe human characteristics to our pets, cars, PCs etc can be extended to storms, earthquakes etc. It suggests believing that every rustle in the bushes or strange phenomenon was someone coming to get us may be a survival instinct.

[sandyRoe]

Honesty can be so cruel, Naomi. Would you want a mental health professional kicking away the last prop from some poor deluded soul? Especially if they were mentally ill, into the bargain

[lcg]

actually, colluding with people's delusions is quite a dangerous game to play...for the health professional and the patient. as they say...if you talk to god, you're religious - if he talks to you, you most definately are nuts! x

[naomi24]

I would want him kicking away the prop if that poor deluded soul's irrational believe affected other people - which religion usually does.

[Calibax]

The article also suggests that lonely people are more likely to anthropomorphise their pets and inanimate objects which may be a social support mechanism. I can see that people with mental illness may be more likely to have less of a social network of friends and be more lonely and therefore rely more on humanising things around them or belief in God or gods.

[karenmac60]

I have 2 family members who had never shown any interest in religion (what their own personal beliefs were, I don't know), but both had breakdowns - one after the death of his mother and the other seemingly spontaneously, and both started quoting from the bible during particularly extreme periods of their breakdowns. I also knew of a man who was a big corporate success till the stress caused him to have a complete breakdown. At that point he 'found god' and became a minister.
I do agree with the point that if anyone claims to believe in anything non religious which has a fantastical basis and cannot be proven to exist (fairies, aliens etc) then they are presumed to be 'unstable', so I can see the link and given that many people 'find god' after a period of mental turmoil there could well be something in it.