Bipolar Religiosity

Part of my mania is religiosity and wanting to believe in God (Christianity/The Bible) and militant atheism (Dawkins -The God Delusion) and Sam Harris (End of Faith). It is nice to have a religion to give you hope and comfort you during hard times and there is a lot of wisdom in the Bible, but it also seems like it's all made up and a cult and gang like crafted to control people. I am grateful to the Catholic Hospitals and good Christians that take care of the mentally ill and also the Muslim, Hindu, and Jewish doctors that I have seen. America is a great country because you have freedom of religion and also freedom FROM religion. My doctor helped me and recommended a book called A Brief History of Everything.

There is a book called the Three Christs of Ypsilanti about three schizophrenic patients that all thought that they were Jesus Christ. They were put in group therapy together.

I told my Jewish Psychiatrist a joke. What would happen if you gave Jesus Haldol?
He would stop hearing God's voice and go back to being a carpenter.
http://www.bible.ca/psychiatry/psychiat ... hrenic.htm

Does anyone else have a religious aspect to their mania? What are your thoughts?

I'm generally an atheist but when psychosis sets in I tend to go hyper-religious. Last time I was manic I believed I was an apostle and last time I was psychotic I thought the devil sent demons to possess me and I believed the voices I was hearing were angels that tried to help me. It's a big warning sign when I put down my Hungry Scientists Handbook and pick up the Bible.

That haldol joke's hilarious. I'm going to start using it.

Last episode I experienced hyper-religiosity as I was praying more than three times a day. Reading The New Testament. There's something about mania that brings out the spirituality in me. I feel truly divine and it's as if I can feel God's presence. Nature is beautiful and I feel everything in this life is connected. Someone told me I should become a theologist. During mania I get these visions.
There has been times when extremely far gone I have thought I was some kind of God. Or Jesus. I have met schitzofrenics who believe they are truly Jesus and it didn't seem like their belief would ever change. Which is quite scary. This is common.
After coming down and getting hit by reality you realize how crazy that sounds.

I still believe there in God. I'm open to many religions. I would say I'm more spiritual then religiously. There have been times when depressed I have lost my faith. Why would God do this to me? Why do people suffer and die of various diseases such as cancer, autism? I don't go to church.
I do think the world would be better off without religion. I think it's crazy how people kill over religion.

I think the religion is to control us. Why does god need gold ceilings and coloured windows if he wants to talk to me? Same as others when psychotic is always religious. I still believe my first psychotic experience was real, and that other people have experienced the same things and have all come to a similar conclusion and by what name they call god doesn't matter, they know of a supramundane world that people who haven't experienced couldn't imagine. And I think if we lived in a different culture we might be supported by spiritual leaders rather than psychiatrists.

Mania is very much a collapse of the ego. My first episode, I basically came to realize almost everything I had been taught and believed in was complete bs, it was scary. When your in that fragile state of mind, the worst thing that can be done is being put in padded rooms, being held restraint, and being injected with meds that might actually make matters worse. Sadly, Western culture doesn't believe in handling mania with a safe environment, caring talk therapy, and showing love to help support what may be a "spiritual awakening." Instead, they label anything that may be seen as not normal as crazy, and end up force feeding us pills for the rest of our life because there is no cure in their minds. Instead of a time for healing, mania becomes much like a bad acid trip.
How do you know if psychosis is actually a "spritual crisis?" I don't know. So they tell us we have a dopamine and serotonin chemical imbalance which cannot be proven in any way.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=herQr9JcMJ8
These videos are very interesting. And I don't believe everybody that experiences psychosis is actual experiencing a spirtiual awakening, but, it's something to think about.

I aslo think religion creates many mental illnesses. There would probably be a significant drop in mental illness if it weren't for religion.

I have spiritual beliefs always. but when I am high these become stronger for sure and I have had experiences at times too which when I look back on them were probably psychosis -I say this because I can recognise others symptoms too in retrospect when considering the episode. I think that there needs to be room to think about having spiritual experiences which are not psychosis or mania, but equally we need to accept that spiritual experiences can also be a product of psychosis and/or mania. And their presence may well indicate we are unwell. I think that this can be something to look out for as an early warning sign for some ppl and perhaps something they can use as a pointer that mood needs to be addressed before things get too bad.

Sometimes spiritual things do happen and I have had a lot of discussion about God vs mental illness with spiritual friends and also my vicar. Definitely need to be open to these experiences but equally I think it is foolhardy to put it all down to spirituality when we know that "hyperspirituality" is recognised in mood instability and psychosis. Keep your mind open but be sensible is my advice to myself. And also a good rule of thumb I would suggest is that if you are believing in things outside your usual spiritual beliefs then there may be a problem. eg I dont and have never spoken in tongues and if I did go doing this I would be wise to pay attention to what is going on with my mood. I appreciate tho that I might not have insight by this point which is why I think knowing your early warning signs (spiritual and other) is so important.

Cracked

I get hyper-religiosity when manic/psychotic, too, and the last time I was fully manic, felt as if I'd tapped into to some kind of divine energy and later was convinced I'd been possessed by demons who were trying to speak through me... Obviously, when I was put on different meds and 'came down', this belief dissipated, but it was a very intense and otherworldly experience. Like other people have said, who knows how this type of experience would have been interpreted in another era or part of the world, and if one perspective is necessarily more valid?

That joke is pretty funny, and I must admit, when I first started reading up about (hypo)mania after my diagnosis, a lot of the symptoms seemed reminiscent of a prophet-like figure, lol. Ordinarily, I do believe in God, although I can't say I practise regularly, which makes me feel guilty a lot of the time. If I start getting the urge to pray and contemplate religious topics much more than usual, though, it tends to be a sign I'm on my way up x

1. Aren't humans just animals with one goal just like all other organisms (to reproduce)? Did we just invent religion to justify the absurdity of life?
2. How do you define a soul/spirit? Does it exist Are our brains not just computers operating in a binary code that decode our senses? (I know we are not robots)
3. Do you believe in an afterlife/reincarnation/heaven/hell or is it just a return to nothingness like before we were born?

*puts on moderator suit*

*ahem* We respect members' right to their own religious beliefs. However in posting we ask you to respect the views of other members and their religious beliefs, spiritual systems or choice not to follow any form of religion. Posts that excessively promote a belief are not permitted. Discrimination based on religion will also not be tolerated.

*bows to applause, takes suit off*

Sorry no offense to anyone! Just trying to work out my religiosity questions. I know spirituality/religion is different for everyone. Maybe I need to post in a religious forum.