If I had to pick one mental disorder that would most likely be caused by demonic possession, it'd have to be schizophrenia. (Which I can now spell without needing spell check!)
But seriously, this is an evil disorder. Most people confuse it with Dissociative Personality Disorder (AKA Multiple Personality Disorder), but they're nothing alike. Schizophrenia literally means "a splitting from reality." Which is sadly and horrifyingly true.
We've spent about 2 weeks on it in class so far. But all the lecture in the world couldn't prepare me for some virtual simulation videos that I found online.
The first isn't bad. It's just really kinda weird. (You only have to watch to 2:30 ish). The second man to go through the simulation is a schizophrenic who with the help of medication has not been suffering these delusions. But you can tell from his reaction that the simulation is pretty much dead on with what he's seen.
The second I ask that you *please* don't watch if you're having a bad day. Or just thinking negatively at present about yourself/your life. Because it will NOT help in the slightest. This simulation is a little more realistic, and shows some of the distortion that schizophrenics deal with (changing normal things to scary/ self-deprecating things...the posters, the TV, the painting) as well as the barrage of negative thoughts.
Horrifying. And there's no good treatment for it. We have medications, but they've got horrendous side effects (Parkinson's-like symptoms, constant facial twitching, depression...). The new meds are better but are horrible for your health. Did you notice the size of the man in the first movie? The one who was schizophrenic? I can almost guarantee you that he wasn't that large before the meds. They're known to cause you to gain weight at ridiculous rates: 50-100 lbs in a year...with normal eating. Which leads to diabetes, hypertension, heart attacks...
And the scary thing is that it doesn't set in some years after puberty. Early 20s for men, late 20s for women. You're just cruising right along living a nice life. You're normally pretty smart, you get good grades, and then you just fall off the world.
If this isn't demonic possession....at least in some cases....then I don't know what is.
2 comments:
"If there's something strange in your neighborhood. Who you gonna call?"
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05711a.htm
(I'm not intending, of course, to make light of a serious topic. I am, in keeping with my Church, fully of the opinion that this stuff is very real and very dangerous. I also think it rocks that the Church thinks it's real and dangerous enough that there's a specific office and process set up to deal with it...)
Amy, that's pretty swell. :-D
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