Connect with people who understand what you are going through, seek advice and surround yourself with support. We're free, anonymous, and professionally moderated 24/7.

47,612Members
1,358,869Posts
1,400,000Visitors

Religion, science and mental illness

justanotherguySenior Contributor26 Feb 2023, 7:16 pm AEDT

Religion, science and mental illness

This is an interesting topic I have devoted much of my life to, partly by chance but then out of necessity. I know religiosity can create different sorts of mental illness symptoms in people who are trying to follow a God or religious text, and it's not quite working. Many religious people have attacked science as some kind of evil work, and it's just not that at all. If you believe in God then he would also allow us to learn, to grow, and to develop ourselves on this planet.

In my studies of religion, societies and science, early religious people had a remarkable understanding of the Universe from observing the stars and our natural world - much of the Bible can be backed up by science. But the big problem for the ancients, and one that must be addressed, is the discovery that our Universe is in an entropic state. In my understanding of this phenomenom, our Universe began in a highly ordered state with the big bang, and in the far off future, it will 'degrade' into a highly disordered state. What that will look like I cannot say, but the ancients did not account for this, and religion does not account for it either. That's why all the religious texts seem to end at the same point.

Armed with religious zeal, humanity has been striving to 'advance', in a giant fight for survival and understanding. But I think we have reached the zenith, knowing about entropy means we cannot hope that the future will always be 'better' than the past. Those that have suffered from depressive illnesses throughout history have been caught up in this, as they have been forced to endure this 'advancement' process and hang on for dear life. I think the last 100 years have been particularly hard with the advent of modern psychiatry and psychology.

The problem now is much of the planet's population has a mindset for 'eternal growth'. How many I don't know but it may be a lot. I don't wish to have some kind of zombie apocalypse but the next few years will be very interesting.

3 replies

1 - 3 of 3

In response to: Religion, science and mental illness

OwlunarSenior Contributor10 Mar 2023, 11:11 pm AEDT

Re: Religion, science and mental illness

Hi @justanotherguy

Seeing as no one has responded to your post I thought I would.

Whatever science and religious has to say about creation and the end of the world I really don't think that's a problem because whatever happened in the beginning - as interesting as that is - happened - we are not sure what the Big Bang was or what caused it or even if that really happened. And we can't change anything.

The end of the world - the apocalypse - happens for some reason for some people every day - being alive is the biggest cause of death. When and if the end of the world does happen there's nothing we can do about it.

I really hear that you are concerned about this - I think it was you who wrote somewhere about future mankind planet hopping to continue the race - actually I wouldn't want to do that - life on the moon or Mars would be inhospitable - I wouldn't be lining up to go.

Truly - I can tell you are really thinking about this and trying to find an answer. There's no harm in researching the subject until the Kingdom Comes - literally - I am actually into that study myself sometimes. It's intellectually stimulating. I am not worried about it - mostly because I have no control over it.

So - I can't ease your anxiety - if that's what you are battling with - I can assure you that you are not alone - I would like to say something to make it easier - perhaps you just want to talk it through - I am prepared to read anything you write - I can't give you any definite answers though.

Watching David Attenborough and other conservationists is informative - we can do our small things to help the environment. I recycling as much as possible and don't purchase things I don't need - I try to be keep my possessions to the minimum. I guess - we can all try and be as green as possible.

In the long run it is up to industry and politicians. This is sad - I totally get that.

Be interested but don't worry.

And yes - one more thing - I think medical advances have improved over the last 100 years - people with mental disorders particularly suffered - there was no cure - some people were institutionalised and suffered terribly - it was all kept a secret. We just know more about what happens in this day and age.

Owlunar

In response to: Re: Religion, science and mental illness

justanotherguySenior Contributor11 Mar 2023, 4:59 pm AEDT

Re: Religion, science and mental illness

Hi @Owlunar , thanks for your response. Many people search for meaning in life, in various ways, I know that's what attracts people to Religion and Science. I know I don't have all the answers but am just looking for 'enough' info to make sense of the world around me (us). There are reasons of technology and resource management that mean some kind of 'end of world' seems likely to some people, but I can see beyond that and our world will keep spinning for millions (billions?) of years yet.

In response to: Religion, science and mental illness

HistoryloverSenior Contributor09 June 2023, 3:08 pm AEST

Re: Religion, science and mental illness

It is unfortunate that I was not so deeply into this when you posted as I am at this point, @justanotherguy, but perhaps our areas of interest may not have aligned anyway? However, I think that I am like you in that I have so many questions to ask, but finding the right person or people to speak with is a search with an unknown start point.

I listened to a YouTube video recently that included an English bishop, I think, among a number of scientists discussing consciousness. It was invigorating for my mind because, as I see it, religion doesn't have all the answer, and ritual is blunting minds and not providing enquiry opportunities. This is quite a new area of research for me, and it is proving fascinating.

At the moment, I am looking into consciousness and it has taken me to 'proving' intelligent design by a most unexpected path. Perhaps I am mistaken, but I will be continuing this line of investigation until I can settle it to my mind's content. I realize it is not a new concept but, at this depth, it is new to me, so coming to this potential realization by my own research has been fascinating. Much more research ahead.

1 - 3 of 3