Someone close to me.......

[Brian37]

Has fallen back into religion. And by fall, I mean did a complete 180 and has gone fundie. It is really frustrating because I know what in reality cased it.

They went through a bad divorce while at the same time suffering in short succession the death of both parents within a year and a half. Then they had an "experience", and i can only surmise it was seeing one or both of their dead parents or having the sensation of seeing or talking to them. This person cannot see that it is a combo of their mental illness combined with the PTSD of losing their parents especially.

Now while this person isn't going to go KKK or Nazi, it still is a bad psychological way of coping. It is simply that person desperate to cover the pain and looking for kindness in others. It is still a form of indoctrination and I am angry at those around this person whom I deeply care about taking advantage of their vulnerable state. 

This person now does nothing but post platitudes and even 2nd Amendment memes. The worst part is I can remember this same person long ago complaining about the same people they are now emerged with. And also this person thinks I could not understand the "experience" they had. I have been through a divorce and I have also had loved ones die, most  important and traumatic was watching my late mother take her last breath. 

What this person does not understand is that I have had the false sensation of seeing my dead grandmother as a kid, and my dead adoptive father as a kid, even once had the false sensation of "outer body". I now know looking back that those sensations were merely my brain intensely fooling me. And back then having an isolated life on a street full of bullies, that also played into the stress that caused me to have these false sensations.

But I am really angry right now because I hate seeing religion take advantage of vulnerable people who have mental health issues that only health professionals can help. Religion only makes mental health issues worse.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Religion only makes mental health issues worse.

This is manifestly untrue.

Boru

[Brian37]

Religion only makes mental health issues worse.

This is manifestly untrue.

Boru

Yes it does. Religion is not neurology, or psychiatry and someone like the person i know, and myself for that matter, are not served by adding non clinical old mythology in as a crutch. I consider myself lucky to understand now what happened to me looking back, where as others do not understand how their own brain works. This person is merely looking for a crutch and that will not help them cope effectively with their mental health issues.

Even with something like a urinary tract infection, I've been told by nurses and doctors, having been through it with my late mother, that even something like that if it gets to the brain can cause very severe hallucinations. Please do not tell me that someone deeply indoctrinated into a religion, isn't going to mistake that as evil spirits.

Even in antiquity nobody new what epilepsy was, and it was quite common back then for humans to mistake that for demon possession. 

This person is using religion to cope, and that is not a health way to cope with the mental illness this person suffers from. I should know because I have the same issues. The only difference is I know how easily my brain can fool me neurologically/chemically speaking.

This person is being taken advantage of for no other reason than the people around this person want another club member.

---

Humans can be very easily fooled, when in a mental state of stress, when they have a severe sense of loss our trauma.

[arewethereyet]

I find it interesting that you bring up extremes like turning to religion often mean joining the Klan or becoming Nazi. Actually, it makes perfect sense as you seem to only see things in the context of extremes.

How each person reacts to similar situations another has experienced isn't at issue. Everyone brings their own 'stuff' to traumatizing or merely upsetting events. Just because you have been divorced and have had people die doesn't mean that your way of dealing is better or worse than anyone else's reactions.

This person has been through a lot it seems and has found a way to cope. Most likely they were looking for something.

Maybe this person you know will forever stay fundie. Maybe the pendulum will swing back. Maybe they needed a lifeline and people of the church have been that lifeline.

Let them go through their grief. If you think they are ready to open a vein or give themselves a fatal shot of heroin...then guide them to help, if you can.

[Brian37]

I find it interesting that you bring up extremes like turning to religion often mean joining the Klan or becoming Nazi.  Actually, it makes perfect sense as you seem to only see things in the context of extremes.

How each person reacts to similar situations another has experienced isn't at issue.  Everyone brings their own 'stuff' to traumatizing or merely upsetting events.  Just because you have been divorced and have had people die doesn't mean that your way of dealing is better or worse than anyone else's reactions.

This person has been through a lot it seems and has found a way to cope.  Most likely they were looking for something.  

Maybe this person you know will forever stay fundie.  Maybe the pendulum will swing back.  Maybe they needed a lifeline and people of the church have been that lifeline.

Let them go through their grief.  If you think they are ready to open a vein or give themselves a fatal shot of heroin...then guide them to help, if you can.

Nobody is trying to deny them their grief. In fact outside the one conversation I had directly with this person, it was simply them telling me they changed their mind. I am simply concerned with the degree of the swing. And no, this person isn't a drug addict. But this is the type of mental state that could be drawn into a cult. I have kept my distance with them on that issue. But I have every right to express my concerns outside our personal contact. 

I am very concerned knowing this person's state, that when other stresses come about, and they always do, this person will turn to the fundie interpretation, then when life doesn't meet this fantasy this person will become more depressed. This person needs real clinical office help, not old mythology.

[Alan V]

Religion only makes mental health issues worse.

This is manifestly untrue.

Boru

Opting for religion is like getting your suit dry cleaned at a place that charges $1000.  While it may help in small ways, it hurts in bigger ways.

[Brian37]

This is manifestly untrue.

Boru

Opting for religion is like getting your suit dry cleaned at a place that charges $1000.  While it may help in small ways, it hurts in bigger ways.

It may be acting as a placebo right now for this person. But I have the same mental health issues, and can tell you especially when i was young and didn't know any better, you are absolutely correct. I also know this person's history and know how they have reacted to stress in the past. I think this person handled it better when they were married and had the kids living at home. 

But even outside this issue, humans when they feel like they are losing something or have lost something, can be easy targets for even things like street gangs or religious extremism. The flocking to a group gives one a sense of belonging and I am sure this is the mental attempt this person is trying to make, fill in a void, although it isn't a gang or terrorist group, the attempt to fill that sense of loss is the same mentality.

[arewethereyet]

I find it interesting that you bring up extremes like turning to religion often mean joining the Klan or becoming Nazi.  Actually, it makes perfect sense as you seem to only see things in the context of extremes.

How each person reacts to similar situations another has experienced isn't at issue.  Everyone brings their own 'stuff' to traumatizing or merely upsetting events.  Just because you have been divorced and have had people die doesn't mean that your way of dealing is better or worse than anyone else's reactions.

This person has been through a lot it seems and has found a way to cope.  Most likely they were looking for something.  

Maybe this person you know will forever stay fundie.  Maybe the pendulum will swing back.  Maybe they needed a lifeline and people of the church have been that lifeline.

Let them go through their grief.  If you think they are ready to open a vein or give themselves a fatal shot of heroin...then guide them to help, if you can.

Nobody is trying to deny them their grief. In fact outside the one conversation I had directly with this person, it was simply them telling me they changed their mind. I am simply concerned with the degree of the swing. And no, this person isn't a drug addict. But this is the type of mental state that could be drawn into a cult. I have kept my distance with them on that issue. But I have every right to express my concerns outside our personal contact. 

I am very concerned knowing this person's state, that when other stresses come about, and they always do, this person will turn to the fundie interpretation, then when life doesn't meet this fantasy this person will become more depressed. This person needs real clinical office help, not old mythology.

Relax and give them some time.  Stop writing the future for someone else based on your neurosis.

[Brian37]

Nobody is trying to deny them their grief. In fact outside the one conversation I had directly with this person, it was simply them telling me they changed their mind. I am simply concerned with the degree of the swing. And no, this person isn't a drug addict. But this is the type of mental state that could be drawn into a cult. I have kept my distance with them on that issue. But I have every right to express my concerns outside our personal contact. 

I am very concerned knowing this person's state, that when other stresses come about, and they always do, this person will turn to the fundie interpretation, then when life doesn't meet this fantasy this person will become more depressed. This person needs real clinical office help, not old mythology.

Relax and give them some time.  Stop writing the future for someone else based on your neurosis.

Being concerned with someone's mental health is not trying to dictate to them or write their future. I do have something to say about this, because I have dealt with this myself. I have been suicidal myself, and I can tell you, it was far worse when I did believe, and back then I came a shitload closer to doing it back then. I am telling you, old mythology is not a replacement for modern psychology/neurology/medicine.

[arewethereyet]

Relax and give them some time.  Stop writing the future for someone else based on your neurosis.

Being concerned with someone's mental health is not trying to dictate to them or write their future. I do have something to say about this, because I have dealt with this myself. I have been suicidal myself, and I can tell you, it was far worse when I did believe, and back then I came a shitload closer to doing it back then. I am telling you, old mythology is not a replacement for modern psychology/neurology/medicine.

Then suggest they seek professional help.

Without the over-the-top way that you have.

You said you know how they will react because you know how they reacted to stresses in the past.  No, you don't know.  You think you have an idea based on history but time has passed since then and this is a different set of stressors.

Just because you have mental health issues doesn't make you qualified to diagnose or suggest a specific treatment for anyone else.

But watch for that hood and Swastika...