There is an increasing tendency of psychiatry to turn more of normal behavior and emotions in life into pathological or at least “treatable” disorders that require (no surprise!) psychiatric medication. A recent blog on shyness as “mental illness” is a typical example. Big pharma seems to “seep into” more of our lives. But it might not be too wise to uncritically accept these psychiatric diagnoses and labels. To understand how well (or not!) these diagnoses function in reality, this message considers how prophets and others in the Bible might be understood via the DSM-IV. Furthermore, what if ..read more

Would you ever consider shyness as a mental illness? What would you think of being diagnosed as “shy” in having “social anxiety” and prescribed with Paxil to make you “normal”? In the 1970s no one was diagnosed with “social anxiety”, then into the 1990s and beyond millions of people were diagnosed with this “disorder” which was soon making billions in profits for the drug industry. This is but one of a number of examples of psychiatry converting a normal human behavior into a treatable (and billable!) mental illness. It amounts to inventing mental illnesses to first create a new market and th ..read more

Technology and the technical mindset are so pervasive in our modern era. The technical mindset has even invaded spirituality and ministry, with unfortunate consequences not easily understood. One well-respected writer in Christian spirituality has referred to the technical mindset as the “Trojan horse” in the Church. There are many techniques used for personal transformation. One well-known author has promoted a “therapeutic formula” for depression and even conceptualized an equation. Some faith movement teachers refer to prayer as a “spiritual force” to gain wealth and health. A number of pr ..read more

Tracy (not her real name nor photo), endured 30 years of pain and trauma – cancer, car accidents, nervous breakdown, times of “pits of blackness”, divorce and almost continual spiritual oppression starting from an occult ritual. In searching for relief from evil spirits or “entities”, she became a New Age speaker, leading many workshops on “healing“. She lamented that while searching for relief from evil spirits for decades, she never knew nor was made aware that Christianity could deal with the demonic. She provides many insights on the New Age movement and the attitudes of its leaders. Trac ..read more

Healing and transforming prayer, properly understood, focuses on the restoration of the whole person – body, mind, soul and spirit. Such prayer helps Christians to experience more of the abundant life (John 10:10) and be ever more rooted in, and built up, in Christ (Col. 2:6-7). Therefore, we must avoid biological, physiological, psychological, or spiritual reductionism in the pursuit of wholeness. This message gives examples of the forgoing with some of the unfortunate limitations experienced by people in need of deep healing. What is health? We readily think of this in biological terms, but ..read more

The solution offered by the world for the suffering from mental illness is predominantly a biochemical, pharmaceutical one. This is expected when mental illness is understood as a biological issue. But what if mental illness is predominantly a spiritual, relational issue? Then the solutions offered would be suddenly quite different. In fact, to deal with all the issues of sin and suffering of the human soul and spirit, the ultimate and only solution would then be Christ and the power of the cross. By “shifting the ground” and changing the entire context of mental suffering, it seems that the ..read more

Do psychiatric drugs actually heal the brain? Or, do those drugs cause brain dysfunction as claimed by a number of respected researchers in psychiatry? Psychiatric drugs are actually neurotoxins which cause many side effects. Long-term use of such neurotoxins can cause “silent brain damage” leading to Parkinson’s according to some researchers. This message is part of a seminar series and starts with some examples of flawed reasoning in psychiatry before understanding the unfortunate link between psychiatric drugs and brain dysfunction among other dysfunctions. All the more reason to prefer th ..read more

How might we compare psychiatry with healing, transformative prayer? The goals and objectives of psychiatry are (not surprisingly) radically different from healing, transformative prayer. In psychiatry, the goal is helping people to function, to manage symptoms, whereas in healing prayer the goal is the healing and transformation of the heart and soul to become more like Jesus. This message, an excerpt from a seminar series, compares psychiatry with healing prayer on many aspects, showing the advantages of healing prayer. Healing prayer centered on the Presence of Christ and relying on the re ..read more

Could clinical depression be genetic? Or what about schizophrenia? Why does it matter? If there are indeed genes for some or many “mental illnesses” then lifelong medication with the accompanying side effects would seem inevitable. But even though the notion of genes for mental illnesses are readily (and uncritically) accepted by some well-known Christian authors, it does not stand up to rigorous scientific scrutiny. Dr Jay Joseph’s book “The Gene Illusion: Genetic research in psychiatry and psychology under the microscope”, for example, makes this abundantly clear. This message discusses how ..read more

There are many “disorders” for which psychiatrists prescribe psychiatric medication. But the “science” behind this is often questionable, if not flawed. What if we “turn the tables” and consider the “logic disorder” of psychiatry? In this message, respected researchers in psychiatry are quoted or referred to, revealing the flawed or faulty logic all too prevalent in psychiatric research and dialogue. It would seem that historically, psychiatry went through an Identity Disorder or at least a crisis and then an anxiety disorder in terms of its place in the world in contrast to therapists and co ..read more