not afraid of schizophrenia,but depressed about it.

Hi my name is David and i have had schizophrenia since i was 18 and now I am 22. I get depressed at times because I have to take medicine for the rest of my life and I am a believer in Jesus and since i was 18 I have been praying and going to church getting hands laid on me for a sound mind but nothing has worked. when i meet people or see old friends i am not afraid to tell them of my illness. I wanted to know if anyone could tell me why in the bible it talks about a sound mind when my disease make's me act and pretty much make a mockery of my religion and also i wanted to know if anyone else was not afraid of telling people that i you have schizophrenia.

You've got to look beyond the Bible to find answers for mental illness. Jesus is not here to heal you and he will not do it from the beyond. Do you know how many christian schizophrenics there are? They all believed and got screwed by illness anyway. That is an indication of something. At most you can hope for wellness in heaven after death, but that is a gamble.

I've been giving this some thought, actually. Part of the issue may be the beliefs, specifically, the sect of Christianity. Sounds like you're in one of the more literal-minded sects (Evangelical, Assembly-of-God, Charismatic), and that could be problematic, if you believe that a mental illness is nothing more than possession by the devil. We may be made in His image, but after Adam and Eve, we were left to form our own paths. That means we made our own decisions on who we mated, where we lived, et cetera. I personally do believe in evolution (an Evolutionary Creationist, I call myself). Not all mutations are positive. Look at dogs, f'rinstance. They're all essentially mutations of various wild canids. Some of those mutations lead to genetic tooth loss, hip dysplasia, blindness, deafness, et cetera. Some of our choices as humans have done the same. Some families are more prone to cancer, others to kidney disease. Even some parts of the world or country or state or city, or the socio-economic status of the person has some bearing on a person's health. Heck, even the diet of the grandparents can have an effect.

He has given us the means to help ourselves. He has given us brains capable of incredible achievements, scientifically, medically, socially, and so on. With that, we are able to help ourselves and improve our lives and the lives of others. Shunning medication or relying on laying on of hands alone spits in His face, and says that you do not appreciate the achievements He has allowed us to reach.

I was raised Presbyterian. I was taught that the Bible is a book written by man, inspired by God. That has quite a lot of bearing on my own thoughts and opinions, just to be clear.

I got saved when I was 18 and it just so happened to be when my mental illness was kicking in. I used to have demons follow me around and tell me ALL of my sins OVER AND OVER AND OVER. That was scary!! I've had my face contort to a demons on more than one occasion. I actually got saved from an experience with demons. Freaked me the f out and I didn't know what to do so I turned to God. Actually thats a VERY long story. I won't get into that. Umm...the thing about this mental illness is that it gravitates towards religious icons and such. Especially Jesus and God and the devil. Now who knows they may have Buddah schizo's over there. But what I have learned is that this is seperatefrom religion. Today the Church throws waay to much importance on "spiritual" things forgetting the physical world. Mother Teresa knew the importance of the physical world and we are to put ourselves in a state of balance between the two. God did not just create the spiritual. Ummm...I hope I'm helping in some way. I come from a non-denominational church. But I have adopted the view of the Adventist's on the subject matter of how the mark of the beast will be administered. And that is that it all depends on WHO you worship and to worship God you must also worship Him in his Commandments as an act of praise. That includes the Sabbath. Everything else I don't agree with. But because of my mental illness I've had to back away from it as much as I love God. Anyways I guess thats all I'll write.

-Breezy