Religious delusion

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A religious delusion is defined as a delusion, or fixed belief not amenable to change in light of conflicting evidence, involving religious themes or subject matter. [1] [2] Religious faith, meanwhile, is defined as "confidence or trust in a person or thing" or "belief that is not based on proof." [3] [ relevant? ] [4] Psychologists, scientists, and philosophers have debated the distinction between the two, which is subjective and cultural. [1] [5]

Contents

Definition

Individuals experiencing religious delusions are preoccupied with religious subjects that are not within the expected beliefs for an individual's background, including culture, education, and known experiences of religion. [6] These preoccupations are incongruous with the mood of the subject. Falling within the definition also are delusions arising in psychotic depression; however, these must present within a major depressive episode and be congruous with mood. [7] [8] [9] Some psychologists have characterized all or nearly all religion as delusion. [1] [5]

A clear framework for distinguishing religious delusions from socially or culturally acceptable religious beliefs was outlined by Sims (1995), who proposed a set of criteria to improve diagnostic reliability. These criteria help clinicians avoid misclassifying normative religious experiences as delusional by focusing on specific features of the belief and its broader context. According to Sims, a belief may be identified as a religious delusion if it meets the following criteria: [10]

  1. The individual’s behaviour and subjective experience align with recognised psychopathological symptoms, wherein the self-reported experience exhibits the structure and characteristics of a delusion.
  2. There is evidence of additional psychopathological symptoms in other areas of the individual's life, such as the presence of other delusions, hallucinations, or disturbances in mood or thought processes.
  3. The individual’s lifestyle, behaviour, and personal goals following the religious experience are more consistent with the trajectory of a mental disorder than with a transformative or personally enriching experience.

Researchers in a 2000 study found religious delusions to be unrelated to any specific set of diagnostic criteria, but correlated with demographic criteria, primarily age. [11] In a comparative study sampling 313 patients, those with religious delusion were found to be aged older, and had been placed on a drug regime or started a treatment programme at an earlier stage. In the context of presentation, their global functioning was found to be worse than another group of patients without religious delusions. The first group also scored higher on the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS), [12] had a greater total on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), [13] and were treated with a higher mean number of neuroleptic medications of differing types during their hospitalization. [11]

Religious delusion was found in 2007 to strongly correlate with "temporolimbic overactivity". [14] This is a condition where irregularities in the brain's limbic system may present as symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia. [15] [16]

In a 2010 study, Swiss psychiatrists found religious delusions with themes of spiritual persecution by malevolent spirit-entities, control exerted over the person by spirit-entities, delusional experience of sin and guilt, or delusions of grandeur. [9]

Religious delusions have generally been found to be less stressful than other types of delusion. [11] A study found adherents to new religious movements to have similar delusionary cognition, as rated by the Delusions Inventory, to a psychotic group, although the former reported feeling less distressed by their experiences than the latter. [17]

History

Behaviours out of the ordinary were traditionally viewed as demonic possession. [18] [ better source needed ] These episodes, although entirely disavowed by modern psychiatry, [19] [ better source needed ] are evaluated by clinicians only such that they fall within the safety of a treatment programme.

In 1983 propositions that religious shamans were motivated by delusions and that their behaviour resembled that of patients with schizophrenia were found to be incorrect. [20]

In a 1937 essay, Sigmund Freud stated that he considered believing in a single god to be a delusion, [1] thus extending his 1907 comment that religion is the indication of obsessional neurosis. [21] [22] His thoughts defining "delusion" perhaps crystallized from the notion of the religion formulations of the common man (circa 1927) as "patently infantile, foreign to reality"; [23] around the same year he also stated that religion "comprises a system of wishful illusions together with a disavowal of reality, such as we find in an isolated form nowhere else but amentia, in a state of blissful hallucinatory confusion". [24]

Prevalence

Examples from a 295-subject study in Lithuania showed that the most common religious delusions were being a saint (in women) and being God (in men). [25]

In one study of 193 people who had previously been admitted to hospital and subsequently diagnosed with schizophrenia, 24% were found to have religious delusions. [10]

A 1999 study identified that religious delusions were often present or expressed in persons with forensic committal to a psychiatric unit. [26] [9]

Historical figures

Researchers have discussed whether historical figures may have had religious delusions.

Biblical

Although many researchers have brought evidence for a positive role that religion plays in health, others have shown that religious practices and experiences may be linked to mental illnesses of various kinds (mood disorders, personality disorders, psychiatric disorders). In 2011, a team of psychiatrists, behavioral psychologists, neurologists and neuropsychiatrists from the Harvard Medical School published research that suggested the development of a new diagnostic category of psychiatric disorders related to religious delusion and hyperreligiosity. [27]

They compared the thought and behavior of the most important figures in the Bible (Abraham, Moses, Jesus Christ and Paul) [27] with patients affected by mental disorders related to the psychotic spectrum using different clusters of disorders and diagnostic criteria (DSM-IV-TR), [27] and concluded that these Biblical figures "may have had psychotic symptoms that contributed inspiration for their revelations", [27] such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, manic depression, delusional disorder, delusions of grandeur, auditory-visual hallucinations, paranoia, Geschwind syndrome (Paul especially) and abnormal experiences associated with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). [27]

Historical

A religious experience of communication from heavenly or divine beings could be interpreted as a test of faith. An example of such is Joan of Arc, La Pucelle d'Orléans, [28] who rallied French forces late in the Hundred Years' War.

Daniel Paul Schreber is an example of a supposed religious delusion occurring in a developed condition of psychosis. [29] Schreber was a successful and highly respected German judge until middle age, when he came to believe that God was turning him into a woman. Two of his three illnesses (1884–1885 and 1893–1902) are described in his book Memoirs of My Nervous Illness (original German title Denkwürdigkeiten eines Nervenkranken), [30] which became an influential book in the history of psychiatry and psychoanalysis thanks to its interpretation by Sigmund Freud. [31]

The Harvard Medical School research also focused on social models of psychopathology, [27] analyzing new religious movements and charismatic cult leaders such as David Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidians, [27] and Marshall Applewhite, founder of the Heaven's Gate cult. [27] The researchers concluded that "If David Koresh and Marshall Applewhite are appreciated as having psychotic-spectrum beliefs, then the premise becomes untenable that the diagnosis of psychosis must rigidly rely upon an inability to maintain a social group. A subset of individuals with psychotic symptoms appears [sic] able to form intense social bonds and communities despite having an extremely distorted view of reality. The existence of a better socially functioning subset of individuals with psychotic-type symptoms is corroborated by research indicating that psychotic-like experiences, including both bizarre and non-bizarre delusion-like beliefs, are frequently found in the general population. This supports the idea that psychotic symptoms likely lie on a continuum." [27]

Auditory hallucination and crime

An individual may hear communication from heavenly or divine beings compelling one to commit acts of violence. Some cite the case of the Hebrew patriarch Abraham, [32] who was commanded by God to sacrifice his son Isaac. However, when Abraham was prepared to act on it, God informed him that this was only a test of faith and forbade any human sacrifice.

In contemporary times persons judged to have experienced auditory hallucination include those hearing voices instructing or motivating them to commit violent acts. These auditory experiences are classified by psychiatry as command hallucination. [33] Persons acting to commit murder are reported as hearing voices of religious beings such as God, [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] angels, [42] or the Devil. [43]

Thomas Szasz critiques the concept of religious auditory hallucination: those who hear the voice of God talking to them are experiencing schizophrenia, while those who talk to God but hear no response are simply praying. [44]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Freud, Sigmund (1939). Moses and Monotheism. Translated by Jones, Katherine. The Hogarth Press., cited in: Sims, A., Is Faith delusion? (PDF), Royal College of Psychiatrists, archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-10-31, retrieved 2013-12-25[ verification needed ]
  2. ↑ Spitzer, Manfred (1990). "On defining delusions". Comprehensive Psychiatry. 31 (5): 377–97. doi:10.1016/0010-440X(90)90023-L. PMID   2225797.
  3. ↑ Russell, Bertrand. "Will Religious Faith Cure Our Troubles?". Human Society in Ethics and Politics. Ch 7. Pt 2. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
  4. ↑ Compare: "Faith". Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, LLC. 2018. Retrieved 2018-05-01. faith ... noun ... 3. belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion ...
  5. 1 2 McKay, Ryan (2004). "Hallucinating God? The Cognitive Neuropsychiatry of Religious Belief and Experience". Evolution and Cognition. 10 (1): 114–25.
  6. ↑ Saavedra, Javier (2014-01-02). "Function and meaning in religious delusions: a theoretical discussion from a case study". Mental Health, Religion & Culture. 17 (1): 39–51. doi:10.1080/13674676.2012.745493. ISSN   1367-4676. S2CID   145357885.
  7. ↑ Lieberman, Jeffrey A.; Stroup, T. Scott; Perkins, Diana O. (2006). The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Schizophrenia . American Psychiatric Publishing. p.  199. ISBN   978-1-58562-646-5.
  8. ↑ Iyassu, Robel; Jolley, Suzanne; Bebbington, Paul; Dunn, Graham; Emsley, Richard; Freeman, Daniel; Fowler, David; Hardy, Amy; Waller, Helen; Kuipers, Elizabeth; Garety, Philippa (2014). "Psychological characteristics of religious delusions". Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. 49 (7): 1051–1061. doi:10.1007/s00127-013-0811-y. ISSN   0933-7954. PMC   4173112 . PMID   24379014.
  9. 1 2 3 Mohr, Sylvia; Borras, Laurence; Betrisey, Carine; Pierre-Yves, Brandt; Gilliéron, Christiane; Huguelet, Philippe (June 2010). "Delusions with Religious Content in Patients with Psychosis: How They Interact with Spiritual Coping". Psychiatry: Interpersonal and Biological Processes. 73 (2): 158–172. doi:10.1521/psyc.2010.73.2.158. ISSN   0033-2747. PMID   20557227.
  10. 1 2 Siddle, Ronald; Haddock, Gillian; Tarrier, Nicholas; Faragher, E.Brian (2002). "Religious delusions in patients admitted to hospital with schizophrenia". Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. 37 (3): 130–8. doi:10.1007/s001270200005. PMID   11990010. S2CID   8949296.
  11. 1 2 3 Raja, M.; Azzoni, A.; Lubich, L. (2000). "Religious delusion: An observational study of religious delusion in a population of 313 acute psychiatric inpatients" (PDF). Schweizer Archiv für Neurologie und Psychiatrie. 151 (1): 22–9. doi: 10.4414/sanp.2000.01136 (inactive 4 February 2025). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-22.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of February 2025 (link)
  12. ↑ Andreasen, Nancy C. (2007). "Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms" (PDF). Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-25. Retrieved 2012-01-30.
  13. ↑ "Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS)" (PDF). University of Iowa College of Public Health. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-04-21. Retrieved 2012-01-30.
  14. ↑ Ng, Felicity; The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (2007). "The Interface Between Religion and Psychosis". Australasian Psychiatry. 15 (1): 62–66. doi:10.1080/10398560601083118. PMID   17464638. S2CID   22763737.
  15. ↑ Casanova, Manuel F. (1997). "The Temporolimbic System Theory of Paranoid Schizophrenia". Schizophrenia Bulletin . 23 (3): 513–515. doi: 10.1093/schbul/23.3.513 . PMID   9327514.
  16. ↑ Pietkiewicz, Igor J.; Kłosińska, Urszula; Tomalski, Radosław (2021). "Delusions of Possession and Religious Coping in Schizophrenia: A Qualitative Study of Four Cases". Frontiers in Psychology. 12. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.628925 . ISSN   1664-1078. PMC   8017190 . PMID   33815215.
  17. ↑ Peters, Emmanuelle; Day, Samantha; McKenna, Jacqueline; Orbach, Gilli (1999). "Delusional ideation in religious and psychotic populations". British Journal of Clinical Psychology. 38 (1): 83–96. doi:10.1348/014466599162683. PMID   10212739.
  18. ↑ Wooden, Cindy (2005). "Real possession by devil not that common, exorcists say during lesson". Catholic News Service. Archived from the original on 2005-02-19. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
  19. ↑ Peck, M. Scott (4 Jan 2005). Glimpses of the Devil: a psychiatrist's personal accounts of possession, exorcism, and redemption. Simon and Schuster. ISBN   978-0-7432-5467-0.
  20. ↑ Noll, Richard (1983). "Shamanism and schizophrenia: A state-specific approach to the 'schizophrenia metaphor' of shamanic states". American Ethnologist. 10 (3): 443–459. doi: 10.1525/ae.1983.10.3.02a00030 .
  21. ↑ Freud, Sigmund (1907). "Religion as obsessional neurosis". Freud Museum. Archived from the original on 2009-05-14. Retrieved 2012-01-19.
  22. ↑ Dein, S. (2004). "Working with patients with religious beliefs". Advances in Psychiatric Treatment. 10 (4): 287–294. doi: 10.1192/apt.10.4.287 .
  23. ↑ Freud, Sigmund (1931). "Religion as a mass delusion". Freud Museum. Archived from the original on 2009-05-14. Retrieved 2012-01-19.
  24. ↑ Freud, Sigmund (1927). The Future of an Illusion. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN   978-0-393-00831-9. OCLC   20479722. cited in: Koenig, Harold G. (2007). "Religion, spirituality and psychotic disorders". Revista de Psiquiatria Clínica. 34: 95–104. doi: 10.1590/S0101-60832007000700013 .
  25. ↑ Rudaleviciene, P; Stompe, T; Narbekovas, A; Raskauskiene, N; Bunevicius, R (2008). "Are religious delusions related to religiosity in schizophrenia?". Medicina. 44 (7): 529–35. doi: 10.3390/medicina44070068 . PMID   18695349.
  26. ↑ Kunst, Jennifer L. (1999). "Understanding the religious ideation of forensically committed patients". Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training. 36 (3): 287–297. doi:10.1037/h0087835.
  27. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Murray, Evan D.; Cunningham, Miles G.; Price, Bruce H. (September 2011). "The Role of Psychotic Disorders in Religious History Considered". Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. 24 (4): 410–426. doi:10.1176/appi.neuropsych.11090214. ISSN   1545-7222. PMID   23224447. S2CID   207654711.
  28. ↑ Groeschel, Father Benedict J. (1993). A Still, Small Voice: A Practical Guide on Reporting Revelations . Ignatius Press. pp.  52–53. ISBN   978-0-89870-436-5.
  29. ↑ Corveleyn, Jozef (2009). "Religious Delusion in Psychosis and Hysteria". In Belzen, J. A. (ed.). Changing the Scientific Study of Religion: Beyond Freud?. Springer. ISBN   978-90-481-2540-1.
  30. ↑ Schreber, Daniel Paul (1903). Memoirs of My Nervous Illness. New York: New York Review of Books, 2000. ISBN   978-0-940322-20-2.
  31. ↑ Freud, Sigmund (1911). The Schreber Case. Translated by Webber, Andrew. Colin MacCabe. New York: Penguin Classics Psychology, 2003. ISBN   978-0-14-243742-1.
  32. ↑ Katz, Claire Elise (2001). "The Voice of God and the Face of the Other: Levinas, Kierkegaard, and Abraham". The Journal of Textual Reasoning. 10. Archived from the original on 2013-12-25.
  33. ↑ Shawyer, F; MacKinnon, A; Farhall, J; Sims, E; Blaney, S; Yardley, P; Daly, M; Mullen, P; Copolov, D (2008). "Acting on harmful command hallucinations in psychotic disorders: An integrative approach". The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. 196 (5): 390–8. doi:10.1097/NMD.0b013e318171093b. hdl: 1885/37133 . PMID   18477881. S2CID   205880957.
  34. ↑ Gaines, James (March 9, 1987). "Mark Chapman Part III: the Killer Takes His Fall". The People . Vol. 27, no. 10.
  35. ↑ "Dad: God told me to kill my son". United Press International. 12 February 2009.
  36. ↑ "Man says he killed his son because God told him to". Current. March 15, 2009. Archived from the original on 2012-07-17.
  37. ↑ Vatis, Kim; Nels, Jenel (April 14, 2010). "'Allah' Told Him to Kill His Family". NBC Chicago.
  38. ↑ Gamiz, Jr., Manuel (30 November 2010). "Allentown slashing suspect says God commanded him to kill". The Morning Call.
  39. ↑ Puxley, Chinta (March 4, 2009). "'God' told man to kill bus passenger". Toronto Star. The Canadian Press. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
  40. ↑ Coryell, Lisa (28 February 2011). "New trial ordered for Morrisville man who says God told him to kill". New Jersey Times.
  41. ↑ Spoto, Maryann (March 3, 2011). "Man Who Says God Told Him to Kill Girlfriend Gets New Trial". Ethics Daily.
  42. ↑ Petrie, Andrea (22 July 2010). "Schizophrenic stabbed grandmother to death 'after hearing voice of angel'". The Age. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
  43. ↑ LaCapria, K. (28 July 2009). "Horrific: Mother kills, eats baby in Texas". The Inquisitr News. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  44. ↑ "Professor Thomas Szasz on Schizophrenia as a Disease". Citizens Commission on Human Rights International. 2010-07-28. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
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