Christianity & Mental Illness
March 9, 2012 at 4:40 pm
(This post was last modified: March 9, 2012 at 4:42 pm by Logic.)
Hello,
I am new to this forum. I would just like to share my peculiar story concerning atheism and religious psychosis.
I am an atheist. As an individual who understands that logic is the absolute foundation and basis of reality, I just cannot see how an omnipotent supernatural deity could possibly exist, unless, of course, such a being could violate Aristotle's law of non-contradiction, in which case God could exist and not exist at the same time (obviously a ludicrous concept.)
Unfortunately, I suffer from two severe mental illnesses: psychotic melancholic depression and severe OCD. Although I am an atheist (scientific realist,) I have a religious psychosis, in which the Christian God of the Bible and Jesus are evil and want me to kill my parents. Obviously, I know that this is beyond absurd, but it disturbs nevertheless. I am able to ignore this ridiculous paranoia.
I believe that the basis for this mental illness is due to the fact that I was heavily indoctrinated into Christianity as a child. The primary school that I attended was obsessed with Christianity, and my grandmother was also quite a strong Christian. As a child, I simply assumed that Christianity was true.
Even now as a relatively hardcore atheist, Christianity still has a hold and power over me that I cannot seem to shift. It is clearly a complex issue that needs to be addressed in psychotherapy.
Can anybody relate to me? Maybe not with the mental illnesses, but more with the power Christianity has over you even though you're an atheist?
Cheers.
I am new to this forum. I would just like to share my peculiar story concerning atheism and religious psychosis.
I am an atheist. As an individual who understands that logic is the absolute foundation and basis of reality, I just cannot see how an omnipotent supernatural deity could possibly exist, unless, of course, such a being could violate Aristotle's law of non-contradiction, in which case God could exist and not exist at the same time (obviously a ludicrous concept.)
Unfortunately, I suffer from two severe mental illnesses: psychotic melancholic depression and severe OCD. Although I am an atheist (scientific realist,) I have a religious psychosis, in which the Christian God of the Bible and Jesus are evil and want me to kill my parents. Obviously, I know that this is beyond absurd, but it disturbs nevertheless. I am able to ignore this ridiculous paranoia.
I believe that the basis for this mental illness is due to the fact that I was heavily indoctrinated into Christianity as a child. The primary school that I attended was obsessed with Christianity, and my grandmother was also quite a strong Christian. As a child, I simply assumed that Christianity was true.
Even now as a relatively hardcore atheist, Christianity still has a hold and power over me that I cannot seem to shift. It is clearly a complex issue that needs to be addressed in psychotherapy.
Can anybody relate to me? Maybe not with the mental illnesses, but more with the power Christianity has over you even though you're an atheist?
Cheers.
