I ran into this question while in nursing school. It turns out loss of Faith/religion is a nursing diagnosis that we are supposed to identify and treat. How is this ok? I came across the same situation in mental health. This is just wrong how can we call someone who logically reasons there is no God as having a mental illness?
there is a designation more of crisis of faith, it is for people that believe, and it does affect health, as you know, dealing with religious community if they disapprove of you, to deal with self doubts, external locus as control (for many this is god). There are people who are devastated because their work requires them to go against their beliefs or religion. Although it shouldn’t be a health issue to be agnostic or atheist, it is one for some who cannot allow themselves to see the world that doesn’t punish them for not believing, so perhaps they punish themselves. also, some military/law enforcement are hurt by knowledge that they’ve had to kill, or have accidentally killed, or have witnessed something that betrays belief in a god. so it can be a medical issue. Loss of faith, though, as a diagnosis, would chap my hide, too.
The whole thing is just backwards and wrong! It should be that believers suffer from the real mental illness. They believe in crap like talking snakes, swear up and down that God is talking to them in their little crazy heads, people coming back from the dead and demons walking freely on the earth. It should be the other way around.
I feel like having religion is more of a mental illness than anything. Everything about it is kind of insane.
It should be the other way around.
Ha ha ha! Thats so funny!
Well - if you believe god is so 'obvious' that there is no valid possibility to doubt his existance, then you will conclude that doubting his existance must be the sign of a mental problem.
It doesn't greatly surprise me that 'christian definitions of mental health' would have such concepts in them - it's just ridiculous that there ARE definitions of mental health that are faith based.
As ridiculous, of course, as hurricanes being 'christian defined' as god's punishment for sin.
I never served, but I've heard the same thing in the military. Not having a religion is a sign that something is wrong.