Is mental illness a punishment from god?

[Otherside]

I've been thinking about this lately. I lost someone last year after she turned to a church that was all for the mass execution of the LGBT community, and refused to accept that illness was anything but a punishment from god, and that medication was like selling the soul to the devil...or something. I don't know, she tried to explain. I didn't really get it. I mean no offense, and I respect religion, and a persons freedom to chose what they believe in, but personally, I can't respect something that cries "discrimination" or "unfair" at times, and then wishes to oppress another sector of society.

Last words me and this person exchanged, well, mostly from her. She said she was concerned about me. I'd be acting odd. Everyone had noticed my mood swings. So I told her. I'd been diagnosed with anxiety age 12, and now I was dealing with a whole load of depression. I was told to accept jesus into my life and it would all go away. It is, according to her, a punishment from god. (To be fair on her, she never actually said that. She never said "You've been punished from god." Just kept going on about this and that...")

I refuse to believe I'm being punished by god.

I haven't lived long. I can assure you that throughout my teenage years, I did not spend them as a golden teen, but neither did I spend them as difficult, rioting one. I did speak back to my parents at times, argue with them, stay out passed curfew and did not go on a family walk, deciding to bugger off to the cinema with friends instead. I did not have sex with half the year, I did not get pissed and high on the street and spray a penis on the subway. I was not part of a gang. I did not throw a brick through a ship window when everyone else was rioting. I never physically hurt anyone. I didn't even download music for free off limewire.

And on the other side of the spectrum...you read the news and see murders, rapes, or a well-respected member of society involved in a pedophile scandal. And well...those involved in that...I can't fucking believe that they were all goddamn celebrities, who were given full access to areas where people were extremely vulnerable (Hospitals, rather scarilly, the one closest to me and that I use), and staff turned a blinde eye or whatever to what was going on. The police ignored any reports made. At the same time as being a well known figure, having millions in the back...

The guy doesn't even get to go jail. He died. Long before all of this came out.

But from I gather, a guy like that who abused children got to live the highlife, and got away with it. He wasn't punished.

And that's why I refuse to believe that mental illness is a punishment for something bad we did, in any way.

[WintersTale]

No, it's not.

Your ex-friend was someone who I would define as crazy herself. I personally do not get that. I'm a Christian, but I'm a liberal Christian, and I see so many crazy religious people that I would personally define as mentally ill.

[life]

hi otherside,no its not a punishment from god, if that was true what sort of god would inflict mental illness on people, a complete and utter shithead thats who. imho As an atheist, i can assure u there is no need for fairy tales and religion is all about controlling the masses.

[compulsive]

If God had control over humans and didn't allow freewill, why did so many bad things happen to me before I even started to hurt others (unintentionally)? Why do bad things happen to little children? If god can give people mental illness, he can also take away suffering and stop bad things from happening.

Which means that either God is a bad person or mental illness is not a punishment from God.

[Otherside]

If God had control over humans and didn't allow freewill, why did so many bad things happen to me before I even started to hurt others (unintentionally)? Why do bad things happen to little children? If god can give people mental illness, he can also take away suffering and stop bad things from happening.

Which means that either God is a bad person or mental illness is not a punishment from God.

I know, I know. It just hurts that some people think this, and until last year, someone close to me, who truly and honestly believed this. That's always what I end up thinking when I think about this. I too, have a not so pleasant pre-mental illness past, although compared to some of the stoires here and the stories I've heard from other sufferers...how can it be a punishment? How in hell can anyone honestly think it's a punishment? When people have been been through abuse, bullying as a child or as an adult...how can anyone think it's a punishment.

I don't believe in god. I don't know if I'd call myself atheist or agnostic or whatnot. I don't like those labels. But still...thoughts playing up.

[WintersTale]

There are various degrees of mental illness. Pedophilia is one of them, but it's one where there are clear victims. Bipolar or other mood disorders don't have any clear victims, except for yourself.

And because of that, I don't believe that it's a punishment from God. I know I couldn't write the things I do (stories, songs, poems, etc) if I wasn't mentally ill. Because of that, I am thankful that I am.

Mental illness also keeps me out of a needless war. I'm a pacifist, and could play that card, but too many people are dying for stupid reasons in war.

[Misssy]

We are all sinners. That is the joke, nobody can ever be good enough. Same in all religions....can try and try to attain perfection...but nobody...NOBODY ever makes it to the top of that ladder.

[WintersTale]

God and whatever religious figure you worship (Buddah, Mohammed, Jesus, whatever) are at the top. We, as human beings, are just at the bottom.

[ashes]

I think you should be very careful with this line of thinking because that would involve wandering into "I deserve this" territory (because mental illness is god's retribution for your past mistakes, almost like karma [which would make god rather sadistic and disgusting, by the way]), which would foster a terribly unhealthy mentality of learned helplessness, shame, (wrongful) acceptance (of a poor-living situation), stagnation. You'd be shaming yourself based on groundless assumptions / blind faith. Please don't. Know that you will make mistakes, have flaws, behave selfishly etc.; that is inevitable and inherently a part of the human condition (i.e. without those qualities, you wouldn't be human). No one is a saint or perfect, and that is okay. Anyway, I'm an atheist, so in my eyes, the only enforcer of justice (and rightfully so) is the government/law.

[CeCe]

[QUOTE=Solar Eclipse;297942]I think you should be very careful with this line of thinking because that would involve wandering into "I deserve this" territory (because mental illness is god's retribution for your past mistakes, almost like karma [which would make god rather sadistic and disgusting, by the way]), which would foster a terribly unhealthy mentality of learned helplessness, shame, (wrongful) acceptance (of a poor-living situation), stagnation. You'd be shaming yourself based on groundless assumptions / blind faith. Please don't. Know that you will make mistakes, have flaws, behave selfishly etc.; that is inevitable and inherently a part of the human condition (i.e. without those qualities, you wouldn't be human). No one is a saint or perfect, and that is okay. Anyway, I'm an atheist, so in my eyes, the only enforcer of justice (and rightfully so) is the government/law.[/QUOTE]

YES YES YES YES!!!!

GREAT POST.

[WintersTale]

We don't deserve this, but that doesn't mean we can't learn from it.

[TheDarkness]

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[WineKitty]

No, it's not.

Your ex-friend was someone who I would define as crazy herself. I personally do not get that. I'm a Christian, but I'm a liberal Christian, and I see so many crazy religious people that I would personally define as mentally ill.

Amen to that.