Psychological Issues

Are mental illnesses and other problems real or from the devil? For example, say a child is diagnosed with ADHD... real or not? Demonic?
 
Are mental illnesses and other problems real or from the devil? For example, say a child is diagnosed with ADHD... real or not? Demonic?
Well they diagnosed my child with ADD. He loves Jesus...idk. I think Satan uses each persons weakness against them.
 
Well they diagnosed my child with ADD. He loves Jesus...idk. I think Satan uses each persons weakness against them.

That's why I was asking. Some people say these things are from the devil, but I don't believe all are. I think some could be, but that doesn't mean all are.
 
Here's maybe a thought provoking question. If human beings had never sinned, do you think there would be any type of illnesses? In heaven where there will be no satan or demons, do you think we will have any health issues?

No, I don't think there would be if humans had never sinned. We live in a fallen world. But, I still don't think it's all demonic.
 
I think some, not all, problems are a spiritual problem . As far as ADHD is concerned , i'm no expert but i think it is too easily seen as a 'problem' when it could very well be a normal part of someone. I think everybody to some degree has a weakness that could actually be a strength. Like some people are naturally more creative, others have very scientific and mathmatical ability. I don't like math and would find it very hard to concentrate and keep up with it. Some things are boring to some people and don't seem to take an interest, perhaps that has something to do with ADHD. If a child suspected of having ADHD lacks concentration in a certain area , it is highly likely they excel and can concentrate on another area that actually stimulates them to take an interest.

Whether spiritual or normal one needs to discern which is which.
 
No, I don't think there would be if humans had never sinned. We live in a fallen world. But, I still don't think it's all demonic.

Interesting. You believe if humans had never sinned, then there wouldn't be any illness. So in a nutshell or a pea pod :), you are saying sin is the cause of all illnesses, right?
 
Interesting. You believe if humans had never sinned, then there wouldn't be any illness. So in a nutshell or a pea pod :), you are saying sin is the cause of all illnesses, right?

Well, on the whole, I suppose... but children get illnesses all the time and I don't think it's because they have some spiritual problem. I hope I am making sense.
 
Well, on the whole, I suppose... but children get illnesses all the time and I don't think it's because they have some spiritual problem. I hope I am making sense.

Yes, you are making sense :) What caused spiritual problems to begin with? What was the first sin? And what was the punishment of that sin? Why do we all have to die?
 
Well, on the whole, I suppose... but children get illnesses all the time and I don't think it's because they have some spiritual problem. I hope I am making sense.
Like the cold and flu. We are human and we are all subject to catching it. We can use our faith at the first sign of flu and declare that we are healed and well in the name of Jesus but it still goes around and can affect anyone.
 
What's interesting to me, is anytime the disciples couldn't do something, Jesus always associated it to their lack of faith. I find this interesting because I can't think of anyone in my life that had faith like the disciples. They gave up everything they had to follow Jesus. Even one of the disciples said let me bury my father first, and Jesus told him let the dead bury the dead. I never seen anyone give up so much to follow Christ, but he still said they had little faith throughout scripture.

So my question is, how much faith do we really have? These guys were casting out demons, and people were being healed. Jesus said to his disciples: "You of little faith. If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, then you could tell a mountain to move here from there." The little faith that they had, gave them so much power.
 
Well, on the whole, I suppose... but children get illnesses all the time and I don't think it's because they have some spiritual problem. I hope I am making sense.

Keep thinking that.

I just read this and went to ask my youngest son when was the last time you were sick Kyle. He said it's been years dad, now I have thrown up, but not sick with a fever or anything.

My son Kyle when he was little use to always come to me to pray and make the sickness go away. We don't allow sickness in our house, it's not welcomed.

My Daughter has run a fever about once a year, none this last year 1/2. She is 7 now.

My Oldest son has been sick once in the last 10 years. It was last year and he is 23 and don't put up with it either.

Believers say that the devil will entice to sin. Most believers, believe that. They give advice not to agree with the sin, and don't let the devil pull us into sin.

What believers ignore is the fact Jesus said the devil makes people sick also. In fact he is the force behind all sickness. Not accepting sin but saying come on in devil, I'll take the sickness is stupid.

There is a natural realm but it is controlled by a very real spirit realm.
All sickness has a reason, it just does not happen. There is a reason the immune system goes down and that is all the devil has to do, touch that immune system. There is enough bacteria and viruses on our computer to kill us over and over if our immune system just took a break for a day.


The curse always comes with a cause. It just does not happen by some lucky chance of the cards. There is a reason. (Pro 26:2)
in that curse is every single sickness known and not known. (Deut 28:61)

The devil can attack, and does often, but we ought to question one thing coming after the other.
 
What's interesting to me, is anytime the disciples couldn't do something, Jesus always associated it to their lack of faith. I find this interesting because I can't think of anyone in my life that had faith like the disciples. They gave up everything they had to follow Jesus. Even one of the disciples said let me bury my father first, and Jesus told him let the dead bury the dead. I never seen anyone give up so much to follow Christ, but he still said they had little faith throughout scripture.

So my question is, how much faith do we really have? These guys were casting out demons, and people were being healed. Jesus said to his disciples: "You of little faith. If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, then you could tell a mountain to move here from there." The little faith that they had, gave them so much power.

Read Mark 4............ A little faith won't do anything and Jesus did not say have a little faith. He said plant that seed. Jesus always rebuked for having a little faith.

It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.
(Mar 4:31-32)

It's possible to have faith in one thing, but be in unbelief for another. I have laid hands on the sick, nothing doubting, have moved to where God said, and only had a little over 100 dollars not knowing where we were even going to stay. I speak in tongues, have words for people and yet despite all that so called faith, I run into things I still doubt. I know doubt is not good, so I have to keep planting that seed and taking care of it. I have to wait until the Word because so real in that area to be useful. Just hearing it once is not good enough, we must meditate and give honor to, taking heed to the Word of God.

I have also cast out devils,( Well, ONE) and they don't make one big enough or scary enough to move me. yet, I find fears in other things which tell me I have to keep growing and understanding more and more.
 
I'm not buying it. This Christian couple we know believed the same thing. Our oldest two had life-threatening food allergies and they were talking about how their daughter never got sick and it must be a spiritual problem. They said no one had been sick in a long time. A week or two later, apparently after forgetting this conversation, they casually mentioned how their daughter was sick. It seems like if this were a spiritual problem and they NEVER got sick, they would be really concerned at that point, but they were not (from what I could tell). People get sick. Our kids rarely got sic

A lot of these issues are thought to be caused by the increased risk of chemical usage, like pesticides and the hormones in our food. It is thought to cause a variety of problems from food allergies to ADHD. To blame the people who are affected by this is silly to me and quite egotistical.

I do believe God heals. I took our oldest two to a different church later and the elders of the church prayed for them. I had faith God would do it. It wasn't immediate, but God took care of the problem in different ways. Today, no more food allergies. Going from many life-threatening food allergies to none is not common. Thank you, Jesus!
 
Also, our kids were homeschooled for six years, and in that time, they didn't catch too many colds. I was warned if I sent them to public school, they would get sick a lot that first year until their immune systems adjusted. This has been true, but as the year goes on, they are getting less sick less often. Recently, our daughter caught a cold/stomach bug. Two days later, it was pretty much gone. This is a big difference between the almost two weeks that was common earlier in the year. I have been praying about it. God also gives us help for things like this. When I talked to the doctor, she told me to start giving them childrens vitamins that have extra vitamin C. I did, and it seems to be helping. We skipped a few days, and that was when dd caught the cold. Once I started giving them to them again, it was gone within the two days. So, God answers prayers in many ways and uses different things to do it.

People used to think sneezing was from demonic possession... that is where the saying Bless You came from. We now know this is not the case. I think it's better not to go too far with that thinking. Some illnesses can be from spiritual problems for sure, but to label every single one as that just isn't true. We live in a fallen world with germs. We might get sick, but we can trust God to heal us.
 
I can't claim to know exactly where mental illness comes from, but my personal, totally anecdotal, experience is that the whole "its demonic" mentality causes a lot of unnecessary and unhelpful social stigma, shame, abuse, and trauma. With mental illness, I used to see sick people who need a "cure;" now I see people I can choose to love.

After about ten years supporting people with mental illnesses and intellectual disabilities, I think this passage best summarizes how I feel about mental illness: "God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him" (1 Cor 1:27-29).
 
Well, on the whole, I suppose... but children get illnesses all the time and I don't think it's because they have some spiritual problem. I hope I am making sense.

My dear Sweet Pea........ALL sickness comes from sin. Sin entered the world by one man.

Roma. 5:12
"Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

ALL men are under the consequences of that sin and we all live under that curse of that sin.

However, that does not mean that a specific person afflicted by a mental illness committed a sin causing their mental condition.

I am pretty much in the same place as my brother Roads, (comment #17). I also have been caring for a loved one, my mother now for the past 10 years. She is a wonderful Christian who loves the Lord and she would actually jump off a roof if she thought she had done something to cause her affliction. She is severely bi-polar and I do not know if the affliction is worse that the medication's side effects we give her to help her.

Her problem began 50 years ago when she had a total hysterectomy. The doctor did not give her replacement hormones and that cause and effect made her mental condition set in. It was nothing at all with what she did or did not do but she as do all others suffer because of the effects of the sin condition we all live in.

Just last week, my 4 year old grandson had pneumonia which abscessed and he had to be operated on and the hardened fluid removed surgically. He did not commit an sin to cause such a thing, but he like all us us live in a sin dominated world that has cause and effects that touch our lives from a long- long -long time ago.
 
Also, our kids were homeschooled for six years, and in that time, they didn't catch too many colds. I was warned if I sent them to public school, they would get sick a lot that first year until their immune systems adjusted. This has been true, but as the year goes on, they are getting less sick less often. Recently, our daughter caught a cold/stomach bug. Two days later, it was pretty much gone. This is a big difference between the almost two weeks that was common earlier in the year. I have been praying about it. God also gives us help for things like this. When I talked to the doctor, she told me to start giving them childrens vitamins that have extra vitamin C. I did, and it seems to be helping. We skipped a few days, and that was when dd caught the cold. Once I started giving them to them again, it was gone within the two days. So, God answers prayers in many ways and uses different things to do it.

People used to think sneezing was from demonic possession... that is where the saying Bless You came from. We now know this is not the case. I think it's better not to go too far with that thinking. Some illnesses can be from spiritual problems for sure, but to label every single one as that just isn't true. We live in a fallen world with germs. We might get sick, but we can trust God to heal us.
Recently I was discussing a similar topic with few other friends.. When we pray for a certain thing (such as healing of a disease), how are we to pray? And more importantly, how are we to react at the outcome? We certainly have to pray with faith that Lord will heal the disease.. But the problem is, we are limiting the definition of victory to our desires.. But the ultimate victory is glorification of Lord.. My friend made a very interesting comment.. We look victory at a particular time point.. For example, a disease or a lost loved one and we think that as defeat.. But Lord's victory or promise should not be looked at a particular timepoint.. But God is timeless.. He is not bound by time.. So victory should be looked from eternity perspective.. And most often, we will never be able to look at it :) There could be things which might be permitted in our lives through which we are drawn closer to God.. That is victory.. Which we might never understand on this side of the life..

Let me relate this to your specific question.. You rightly mentioned.. Every disease in the world is a result of sin.. God is never ever never author of evil.. Diseases are a direct result of sin.. So in a way every disease is spiritual in nature.. If the outward manifestation of sin.. Why we catch flu? Because of virus and bacteria.. Why they catch us? Because of fallen world.. Why the world is in this state? Because of fall of man!!

God has given us both worldly wisdom and spiritual discernment.. He has also empowered us with His Spirit.. And He has taught us about Armor of God.. He has also taught us even how to pray.. He has equipped us in all ways.. It is us who will have to open our hearts and listen to him.. There are many things which we have to do right.. Are we pursuing holiness? Are we doing our best to walk blameless? (which we will never be able to accomplish).. Are we striving? When our primary focus is that, then the Lord will show us the way out of all these other things.. When we do that, we won't be asking God why certain things happened.. We will start seeing the hand of God and what He is doing in the middle of that..
 
I'm not buying it. This Christian couple we know believed the same thing. Our oldest two had life-threatening food allergies and they were talking about how their daughter never got sick and it must be a spiritual problem. They said no one had been sick in a long time. A week or two later, apparently after forgetting this conversation, they casually mentioned how their daughter was sick. It seems like if this were a spiritual problem and they NEVER got sick, they would be really concerned at that point, but they were not (from what I could tell). People get sick. Our kids rarely got sic

A lot of these issues are thought to be caused by the increased risk of chemical usage, like pesticides and the hormones in our food. It is thought to cause a variety of problems from food allergies to ADHD. To blame the people who are affected by this is silly to me and quite egotistical.

I do believe God heals. I took our oldest two to a different church later and the elders of the church prayed for them. I had faith God would do it. It wasn't immediate, but God took care of the problem in different ways. Today, no more food allergies. Going from many life-threatening food allergies to none is not common. Thank you, Jesus!

Be very careful Sweet Pea when you here some of the things said here. Identify where it is coming from and why.

John Donne wrote these well-known lines in his Meditation XVII........................
"No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee."

Mankind is a single entity, constituting a divinely ordered solidarity. Adam represented the entire human race that descended from him, no matter how many subgroups there may be. That is called Federal Headship. Therefore when Adam sinned, all mankind sinned, and because his first sin transformed his inner nature, that now depraved nature was also transmitted to his posterity.

Because he became spiritually polluted, all his descendants would be polluted in the same way. That pollution has, in fact, accumulated and intensified throughout the ages of human history. Instead of evolving, as humanists insist, man has devolved, degenerating into greater and greater sinfulness.
 
Back
Top