Mental Disabilities...Deities will and Can you Get rid of Them (ritual, pray)

[Fluffy]

Can a person pray to get rid of mental illness? I don't think prayer hurts anyone, but I would not solely rely on it anymore than I would solely rely on prayer to knit a broken bone. The best current science indicates that the major disorders, such as psychosis, depression, bi-polar, borderline personality disorder, and so forth, have physiological and/or neurochemical causes. Relying solely on prayer to cure these disorders is no wiser than relying solely on prayer to cure pneumonia or cancer. I think anyone who has a mental illness should seek a psychiatrist as quickly as s/he would seek a physician for an infection.

I agree with you fully Sunstone, but I would also, tentatively, put forward the idea that prayer and other forms of faith could have a much more significant impact on mental disabilities than physical ones. Of course, unregulated, this impact could easily be negative instead of positive.

[Booko]

Originally Posted by Fluffy

I agree with you fully Sunstone, but I would also, tentatively, put forward the idea that prayer and other forms of faith could have a much more significant impact on mental disabilities than physical ones. Of course, unregulated, this impact could easily be negative instead of positive.

There's a train of thought in the "alternative" medical community that posits even physical ailments have their roots in emotional unhealthiness.

If that is the case, then prayer (and meditation) may indeed have a potitive influence on health.

Not that going to a good shrink wouldn't be useful also.

[Sunstone]

I think the main positive contribution of the "alternative" medical community has not been effective remedies, but the view that wellness needs to be approached holistically.

[Booko]

Originally Posted by Sunstone

I think the main positive contribution of the "alternative" medical community has not been effective remedies, but the view that wellness needs to be approached holistically.

I think it's both, but then we'd be off on another thread. ack