EvC Forum: When is a belief system a Mental Disorder?

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Topic: When is a belief system a Mental Disorder?

Phat

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From: Denver,Colorado USA

Joined: 12-30-2003

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Message 14 of 252 (286789)
02-15-2006 6:56 AM

Reply to: Message 1 by SuperNintendo Chalmers
02-14-2006 11:55 AM

Mental Floss

mini ditka writes:

I was just reading an article about a man who believed God told him to kill someone and even though he didn't want to do it he felt he had to obey the word of god (his lawyers are claming the insanity defense).
This got me thinking.... Many people hold views that clash with objective reality. When does holding irrational beliefs become a mental disorder? When do these belief systems become a concern for society?

what defines objective reality?

I'm interested in all views on the subject and any research that has been done.
Some examples of views that seem to clash with reality and may or may not be evidence of mental problems:
Belief in Magic, Spells, Wizards, Witches, etc

Phat writes:

I have seen experienced what I honestly believed to be unexplained phenomena, but I think it is unhealthy to dwell on such stuff!

Believing the world is 6000 years old

Phat writes:

We honestly do not know for sure how old the world or the known universe is. Its enough to say its older than we are!

Believing that you get 72 virgins through suicide bombing
Believing that Aliens built the Pyramids

Phat writes:

Its only because the pyramids exceed human capabilities in a practical sense. Aliens are mathematically plausible, however...from a scientific standpoint.

Belief in crazy conspiracies (think Timothy McVeigh)
Other cult beliefts (ex. UFO cult that committed suicide)
I'm interested in where the line is drawn between just being a "bit of a loon" and having a mental disorder.

I think that the line is drawn when an individual hangs out excessively with other like-minded individuals OR when a person has an unhealthy interest in a narrow belief that is unproven in any sense.

This message is a reply to:
	Message 1 by SuperNintendo Chalmers, posted 02-14-2006 11:55 AM		SuperNintendo Chalmers has not replied

Phat

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Posts: 18351

From: Denver,Colorado USA

Joined: 12-30-2003

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Message 250 of 252 (311030)
05-11-2006 12:23 PM

Reply to: Message 213 by Trump won
02-26-2006 4:19 PM

Re: What struck me

Reality is playing the Banjo. (Good pic, by the way)

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	Message 213 by Trump won, posted 02-26-2006 4:19 PM		Trump won has not replied

Phat

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Posts: 18351

From: Denver,Colorado USA

Joined: 12-30-2003

Member Rating: 1.0

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Message 251 of 252 (311038)
05-11-2006 12:41 PM

Reply to: Message 2 by Adminnemooseus
02-14-2006 5:02 PM

a lot of "flame war" potential here

Lets talk about belief systems for a moment. Say we have a forum where the administrators, computer geeks all, like to archive the forum information.

OK. Practical to a point, right?

But what if every little tidbit of info gets archived? For example, back in October of 2002, some Bible Thumper named Gods Army posts a PNT that is titled Satan is the ACLU. He gets rejected, and his 3 post inane rambling is preserved in archives for all eternity.

My analysis? Saving such stuff amounts to an obsessive/compulsive disorder.

If I were a newbie browsing the internet, and I came upon EvC Forum.net and I wanted to find good topics on creation/evolution, I would not want to sift through 15 pages of topics of which perhaps only a third actually contain any useful information.

In short, one mans sincere belief and reasoning is another mans perception of an obsession and a mental disorder....(no matter what the belief!

)

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	Message 2 by Adminnemooseus, posted 02-14-2006 5:02 PM		Adminnemooseus has not replied

Replies to this message:
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