A Biblical Look at a Medical Theory
Patient C.O is a 32 year old female who was brought in by her husband because she has been acting “weird”. He states that he finds her talking to herself, often claims that people are trying to steal her soul and gets aggressive if people get physically close to her. Upon further examination, it is revealed that C.O experiences auditory hallucinations and hears baby cries around the house even though they have no baby. Yesterday she was found cradling a stone and trying to breast feed it. Physical examination and thyroid panel are normal, past surgical history is positive for a pregnancy termination 8 months ago. Administration of Haloperidol failed to calm her and she was admitted to the floor for further observation…
Psychiarist Karl Menninger was a famous doctor of the mid-1900′s who was noted for his breakthrough in psychiatry and the treatment of Schizophrenia. His work was such a breakthrough that he was awarded the presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter; an award given to people who have made great contributions in areas of world peace, science or culture of the United States. He is the author of many books on mental illnesses but he is the most famous for his stand on the origin of mental illness.
Schizophrenia, in simple terms, is a disease where the patient suffers from hallucinations (commonly auditory – they hear voices or sounds that other people don’t), delusions, psychosis and other problems. Medicine has been unable to tell the exact cause of it but the standing theory is that a hyperactive dopamine system within the brain plays a major role in the disease. Dopamine is an important neurotransmitter, or “messenger”, in the brain through which the small molecules, neurons, within the brain, communicate with each other. When a person has a hyperactive dopamine system, it means more dopamine is present than the brain needs. It is also believed that other factors such as poverty, trauma, genetics and drug abuse might have a role to play in the development of this disease. This was a theory generally accepted by doctors and whenever a patient came in, all that could be done was to prescribe anti-dopaminergic drugs to control the symptoms; not cure them.
This theory was fine and accepted until Menninger “rocked the boat” with a new treatment that could be summed up by words completely outrageous to the world of psychiatry “Confess your sins and they will be forgiven!” Menninger believed that science could not explain all mental illnesses and that demonic possession and oppression was related to the cause of many illnesses especially schizophrenia. These words caused great controversy because for many years the world of medicine had fought hard to ban the word “sin” from the diagnosis and treatment of any mental illness. In past centuries, mental illnesses were thought to be demonic possessions and treatments of that time ranged from physically burning the “demon” out to cutting the body with sharp objects to “bleed the demon out”. Obviously this brought deaths and suffering to a lot of people and in an attempt to prevent further deaths, the psychiatry field decided to stop the belief that religion played a role in mental health. This worked out well until Menninger did research that showed that if he could convince his psychiatric patients that their sins were forgiven, at least 70% of them would be well enough to walk out the hospital the next day.
Is there proof in the bible for his theory? Let’s find out.
James 1 vs 8: A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
The very name of the disease Schizophrenia “split mind” speaks of a person who is not “whole” in his mind and in his thinking. The fact that schizophrenics usually hear voices supports this fact.
James 1 vs 6: But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
The word “worry” is from the root word “to divide” and it is not a coincidence that that is exactly what happens in a schizophrenic’s mind. You see the word “Schizo” means “split” and medicine believes that in a way, patients have their minds “split up” and this is what causes the symptoms
Menninger believed that the sins and guilt his patients had on their mind was causing them to worry and this anxiety weighed so much that it was causing their mental illness. To this, he had only one course of treatment: GOING BACK TO GOD!. The bible says “As far as the east is from the west, [So] far has He removed our transgressions from us.”(Psalm 103 vs 12). Menninger believed in the saving and forgiving grace of God and that by tapping into God’s deliverance,one could be delivered out of mental bondage.
Although this is not a theory currently accepted in modern day medicine, there is a “remnant”, a few Christian psychiatrists who base their treatment of schizophrenia on the foundation of the word of God
Let the change begin…
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