So I was searching the web several months ago, and i found this article.
• http://www.awitness.org/journal/gnostic_paranoia.html
The author seems to think that religious indoctrination into fundamentalist Christian churches can use violent images and languages; and subsequent behavior of fundamentalist christians in these churches can cause an otherwise normal person to develop personality disorders, notably paranoid disorders.
Having little trust in this author I decided to read some more scholarly web articles about the disorder here:
http://www.depression-guide.com/paranoia.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoid_Pe...der#Causes
http://www.minddisorders.com/Ob-Ps/Paran...order.html
In these articles, guilt, fear, and sense of inferiority in past experiences are noted as possible causes. The link between paranoid personality disorder and religious faith, indoctrination and church membership is quite absent from these articles.
Now, I can give ,y own anecdotal evidence supporting fear, giult, and inferiority being present in fundamentalist pentecostal indoctrination, and it would make this a huge note..quite boring to read. The first article's claims would be supported by my web search articles having fear as a cause of the disorder. My anecdotes would support fear as being present in these churches. The same for guilt and inferiority feelings. The language of the Bible speaks for itself in terms of violence.
That brings me to the questions I have.
Should people with personality disorders and more serious mental health issues be encouraged to stay away from some churches, or from Christianity?
Are mental health statistics better for Atheists? In other words specifically; do Atheists report less paranoid personality disorders?
Would converting to atheism help to alleviate some of these symptoms, that can be found in the three sholarly links above? for example less fear of damnation, less violent imagery, less magical thinking, etc
Is there any legitimate source (APA, etc) that links Christianity to mental health problems?
• http://www.awitness.org/journal/gnostic_paranoia.html
The author seems to think that religious indoctrination into fundamentalist Christian churches can use violent images and languages; and subsequent behavior of fundamentalist christians in these churches can cause an otherwise normal person to develop personality disorders, notably paranoid disorders.
Having little trust in this author I decided to read some more scholarly web articles about the disorder here:
http://www.depression-guide.com/paranoia.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoid_Pe...der#Causes
http://www.minddisorders.com/Ob-Ps/Paran...order.html
In these articles, guilt, fear, and sense of inferiority in past experiences are noted as possible causes. The link between paranoid personality disorder and religious faith, indoctrination and church membership is quite absent from these articles.
Now, I can give ,y own anecdotal evidence supporting fear, giult, and inferiority being present in fundamentalist pentecostal indoctrination, and it would make this a huge note..quite boring to read. The first article's claims would be supported by my web search articles having fear as a cause of the disorder. My anecdotes would support fear as being present in these churches. The same for guilt and inferiority feelings. The language of the Bible speaks for itself in terms of violence.
That brings me to the questions I have.
Should people with personality disorders and more serious mental health issues be encouraged to stay away from some churches, or from Christianity?
Are mental health statistics better for Atheists? In other words specifically; do Atheists report less paranoid personality disorders?
Would converting to atheism help to alleviate some of these symptoms, that can be found in the three sholarly links above? for example less fear of damnation, less violent imagery, less magical thinking, etc
Is there any legitimate source (APA, etc) that links Christianity to mental health problems?
