emdie Posted November 12, 2016 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 5 Topic Count: 8 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 146 Content Per Day: 0.05 Reputation: 137 Days Won: 0 Joined: 09/18/2016 Status: Offline Share Posted November 12, 2016 (edited) As a chronic study-er of psychology, I can tell you that demons are not generally discussed in psychology, or if they are mentioned, it's always with a degree of scorn and derision for those who believe in them. There's no room in science for the unexplained and unverified you know. I know different, and have absolutely no doubt that they exist and are in possession of more people today than they ever were. This is, I believe, because of our lifestyle today, our worship of all things man made and earthly. It just sets up the environment for them, but of course God has to permit it for reasons known only to him. I think it's because in the end it will shift the balance of evil and good in mankind. But enough idle musing. But I must stress that I do not think every person who has maladaptive behaviours/behaviour patterns is possessed or influenced by demons. There is such a thing as mental illness, but I think it comes from the human makeup in the mind and spirit, and also from biology. Therefore all care has to be taken to ensure the right diagnosis is made. That can be a long process of trial and error, and what doctors won't tell you is that it's done by a process of elimination. They work from the most common problems all the way through (if necessary) to the really rare stuff. Though of course, possession isn't on the list. I can't say if mental illness is on the rise, but if you read the statistics, it will tell you that it is and the profession of psychologist is enjoying one of the biggest growths as an industry. Perhaps it's just more acceptable to seek help these days, so the statistic gets reported. If I was ever in the situation where I suspected demonic possession, I would be presenting the person with the cross, and saying 'In the name of Jesus Christ' as demons can't stand this. Jesus gave each one of us the power to banish demons from the bodies of men, so I wouldn't hesitate to use this if I believed the situation warranted it. I know I'm in the minority there. Edited November 12, 2016 by emdie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelofAshes Posted November 12, 2016 Group: Members Followers: 4 Topic Count: 8 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 55 Content Per Day: 0.02 Reputation: 38 Days Won: 0 Joined: 10/03/2016 Status: Offline Share Posted November 12, 2016 As someone who 'has/had' mental illness I have to say yes, it is demons for the most part. Demons can effect the physical plane and spiritual. I've seen gifted ministers heal people who had pain by casting out a demon involved in pain and it worked instantly. Remember the woman in scripture that had the back problems? That spirit that was on her and causing her physical issues was a spirit of infirmity. When Jesus laid hands on her and loosed the spirit it left and she could move again. What does that say? That since demons can physically alter a woman's back they possibly can cause 'chemical imbalance' in a person's brain or genes, etc. The more and more I have grown closer to Christ and getting used to casting out demons the less and less medicine I've had to take. I'm on such a low dosage that my Dr., who claims to be christian, does not understand how I'm functioning because he says my dosage should not be doing anything and he says he wish he could clone me so he could do further testing(literally he said this to me). He thinks it's in my genes--it's in my birth right as a Christian. My depression was cured within a day after fasting and becoming close to Christ. They do not understand why I'm not depressed anymore or struggling with work and school. I suffered from schizophrenia and all I can tell you is what this illness is, is you basically have the ability to hear demons that are latched on to you(if you're christian) or are inside you(if your a nonbeliever). I've been rebuking the demons so long that I do not hear them anymore. If you know a person with mental illness please rebuke these demons on their behalf if they don't know how/can't. These demons often talk about taking the souls of the people they are latched onto as soon as the person dies. " Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. " Be prepared to fight any demons you cast out though, if you don't have experience in rebuking them they will fight you hard at first. The more you grow in doing this, the more they will fear coming against you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis1209 Posted November 12, 2016 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 18 Topic Count: 347 Topics Per Day: 0.13 Content Count: 7,458 Content Per Day: 2.70 Reputation: 5,371 Days Won: 1 Joined: 09/27/2016 Status: Offline Author Share Posted November 12, 2016 4 hours ago, emdie said: As a chronic study-er of psychology, I can tell you that demons are not generally discussed in psychology, or if they are mentioned, it's always with a degree of scorn and derision for those who believe in them. There's no room in science for the unexplained and unverified you know. I know different, and have absolutely no doubt that they exist and are in possession of more people today than they ever were. This is, I believe, because of our lifestyle today, our worship of all things man made and earthly. It just sets up the environment for them, but of course God has to permit it for reasons known only to him. I think it's because in the end it will shift the balance of evil and good in mankind. But enough idle musing. But I must stress that I do not think every person who has maladaptive behaviours/behaviour patterns is possessed or influenced by demons. There is such a thing as mental illness, but I think it comes from the human makeup in the mind and spirit, and also from biology. Therefore all care has to be taken to ensure the right diagnosis is made. That can be a long process of trial and error, and what doctors won't tell you is that it's done by a process of elimination. They work from the most common problems all the way through (if necessary) to the really rare stuff. Though of course, possession isn't on the list. I can't say if mental illness is on the rise, but if you read the statistics, it will tell you that it is and the profession of psychologist is enjoying one of the biggest growths as an industry. Perhaps it's just more acceptable to seek help these days, so the statistic gets reported. If I was ever in the situation where I suspected demonic possession, I would be presenting the person with the cross, and saying 'In the name of Jesus Christ' as demons can't stand this. Jesus gave each one of us the power to banish demons from the bodies of men, so I wouldn't hesitate to use this if I believed the situation warranted it. I know I'm in the minority there. Good post. This is more or less what I was trying to get across without much success. I'm thinking by and through 'sin' our DNA has degraded over time and has affected us more physically and mentally generation after generation. I suspect if it were not for modern medicine and an abundance of food, due to our degradation, our lifespans would be much shorter? Thus the scientific push to transhumanism, but that's a different topic. I also highly suspect demonic and unclean spirit possession / influence has dramatically increased in our generation. One point I didn't get across very well... I'll just use a violent 'pedophile' as one of many examples I could use. Using just this one example, it appears to have exponentially increased in our generation compared to the past? As far as I know, there are no known cases of anyone being "cured" of it? It's said it can be controlled through medication provided the affected stays on the medication and it's adjusted as needed. Not being a professional in any area of medicine, I'd still say they are treating the symptoms and not the root cause. I guess my point is, if my assertion of escalating demonic activity has occurred in our generation, we're barking up the wrong tree. Whatever it is, mental illness or demonic possession or both, I don't need statistics to see the dramatic increase in abnormal behavior and repulsive acts occurring since I was a kid. Something has rapidly changed for the worse. What I'm getting at, man and medicine can not treat the spirit or soul, the root cause of most of the violent and disgusting acts committed, and our prisons and society are full of them. In Jesus's day, He alone cast out probably hundreds of demons and unclean spirits, healed the sick with divers diseases and raised the dead, as recorded in the Gospels. I can only find a couple of cases where Jesus healed lunaticks (MT 4: 24, which I assume is mental illness). So if my understanding is correct, there was mental illness back then, but apparently not as prevalent as today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emdie Posted November 13, 2016 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 5 Topic Count: 8 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 146 Content Per Day: 0.05 Reputation: 137 Days Won: 0 Joined: 09/18/2016 Status: Offline Share Posted November 13, 2016 (edited) 19 hours ago, Dennis1209 said: Good post. This is more or less what I was trying to get across without much success. I'm thinking by and through 'sin' our DNA has degraded over time and has affected us more physically and mentally generation after generation. I suspect if it were not for modern medicine and an abundance of food, due to our degradation, our lifespans would be much shorter? Thus the scientific push to transhumanism, but that's a different topic. I also highly suspect demonic and unclean spirit possession / influence has dramatically increased in our generation. One point I didn't get across very well... I'll just use a violent 'pedophile' as one of many examples I could use. Using just this one example, it appears to have exponentially increased in our generation compared to the past? As far as I know, there are no known cases of anyone being "cured" of it? It's said it can be controlled through medication provided the affected stays on the medication and it's adjusted as needed. Not being a professional in any area of medicine, I'd still say they are treating the symptoms and not the root cause. I guess my point is, if my assertion of escalating demonic activity has occurred in our generation, we're barking up the wrong tree. Whatever it is, mental illness or demonic possession or both, I don't need statistics to see the dramatic increase in abnormal behavior and repulsive acts occurring since I was a kid. Something has rapidly changed for the worse. What I'm getting at, man and medicine can not treat the spirit or soul, the root cause of most of the violent and disgusting acts committed, and our prisons and society are full of them. In Jesus's day, He alone cast out probably hundreds of demons and unclean spirits, healed the sick with divers diseases and raised the dead, as recorded in the Gospels. I can only find a couple of cases where Jesus healed lunaticks (MT 4: 24, which I assume is mental illness). So if my understanding is correct, there was mental illness back then, but apparently not as prevalent as today. Hi Dennis, I think you got you point across quite well, I just came in from a different angle. This is a difficult area because there aren't many statistics or studies done on it. Can you imagine trying to do a paper on it and get approval? Me: I have a suggested paper on the amount of demonic possessions in males and females between the ages of 5 and 70.... Committee: Demonic possessions? Me: Yes, fallen angels who were corrupted by the Morning Star when there was a war in Heaven many many years ago.... Committee: We do wish you wouldn't bring 'fictional beings' into your studies Emily, it's hardly conducive to 'real science', now is it? Me: I know through faith... Committee (laughs uncomfortably): We hardly see how THAT comes into it. You're looking a bit pale there dear, why don't you just go on a nice holiday, a nice long holiday... The only way to do real research I suspect would be to report on the number of cases with similar symptoms, from the angle of wanting to know how many people believed they were possessed. Otherwise, you would have to go the Vatican, as they have the only real stats on the planet, and their priests have been trained to recognise the truly mentally ill. As for possession, the Vatican reports 400 new cases per year in the area of Italy alone, so it does seem to support what you've suggested. If I may remind you though that Jesus wasn't the only one to drive out demons, as He taught His disciples to do so in His Name, and Peter even raised a girl from the dead. Not to be too obvious, but I think that mental illness may be of our human condition, and possession is from the spirit. To paraphrase Jesus (although He was talking about being born again), what is of the spirit is of the spirit, and what is of the flesh is of the flesh. On a serious note, although this isn't my area of expertise, pedophilia is by far the hardest condition to treat, and doctors/psychologists have turned themselves inside out trying to do so. The success rate is minute. I can't really make an official comment on why, but in my own opinion it is evil so dreadful that has these people exactly where it wants them, so they don't want to break free. People generally don't want to change if they're getting behavioural rewards, and some times even if they aren't. We as human beings tend to keep to the familiar, even to our own detriment. So unless you had presented each person with the cross and watched how they reacted, how would you know who was ill and who was possessed? In the end it probably doesn't matter too much as we know God can heal both of these things. It would be our faith (the therapist's AND the patient's) that matters in whether or not the person recovered. In counselling psychology, you always know that your success rate is determined by the patients' willingness to change and listen to your advice. If they don't have faith, they won't get better. It's a bit like we know that it's pretty likely that a placebo will work on you with the same potency as the real drug, no matter what the illness is, so there's the power of suggestion for you. I guess there may well be a place in science for faith, just not openly I guess the only comfort we can take is that it's all biblical, and God is always near to love and comfort us when we need Him. Thanks for posting everyone, it certainly got my grey matter working for a change. God Bless, Emily Edited November 13, 2016 by emdie Forgot to put in super dooper emoticons which I adore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shel Posted November 14, 2016 Group: Royal Member Followers: 20 Topic Count: 15 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 6,830 Content Per Day: 2.49 Reputation: 5,698 Days Won: 13 Joined: 10/20/2016 Status: Offline Birthday: 04/11/1961 Share Posted November 14, 2016 On 11/11/2016 at 5:20 PM, Dennis1209 said: No I'm not saying that what-so-ever, I'm well aware of mental illness as it runs in my own family. My brother took his own life just a couple years ago, so by no means am I lumping them together. Watching some of these programs on MSNBC like "Lockup Raw", women in prison and the like. The horrible disgusting crimes many of them commit, leads me to think a lot of them are in fact in their right minds? But I'm not that knowledgeable to determine the difference between mental illness and demonic possession / influence. I was merely speculating that if there were that may unclean spirits in Jesus's day, I would assume there would be many more in this day and age. So sorry this happened Dennis. It must be a terrible loss for you. I am a mental health professional, and while I don't go around rebuking demons at work, I don't think we can completely separate mental illness from demonic activity, any more than we can completely separate ANY kind of earthly fallenness from demonic activity - war, sickness, poverty, etc. God gave us authority over the earth, we forfeited it to Satan, and Jesus won it back for us. I think Satan loves to use every means of fallenness he can get his hands on, and I think we need to use our God-given authority to stop him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted November 14, 2016 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 0 Topic Count: 905 Topics Per Day: 0.19 Content Count: 9,644 Content Per Day: 2.02 Reputation: 5,831 Days Won: 9 Joined: 04/07/2011 Status: Offline Share Posted November 14, 2016 ALL people suffer from the mental illness of sin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted November 14, 2016 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 0 Topic Count: 905 Topics Per Day: 0.19 Content Count: 9,644 Content Per Day: 2.02 Reputation: 5,831 Days Won: 9 Joined: 04/07/2011 Status: Offline Share Posted November 14, 2016 I saw a hand written sign in the rear window of a new car today. It read: "Atheism is awesome!" I rest my case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saved by grace Posted November 14, 2016 Group: Members Followers: 1 Topic Count: 3 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 8 Content Per Day: 0.00 Reputation: 16 Days Won: 0 Joined: 11/13/2016 Status: Offline Birthday: 10/12/1995 Share Posted November 14, 2016 Hello friend, Just by looking at our political leaders and the things they are doing to our country, you begin to understand that they are trying to go against the bibles teachings, and if you are not for god then you are against him, so satan does have a ruling over these people. Demonic possessions don't necessarily have to be the exact way that we see them in the movies, I mean look at the celebrities these days, they openly worship satan sometimes right?... These aren't just normal people. And the whole idea behind mental illness, sometimes god does this so that he may glorify himself through that person, john 9:2-3 says "His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis1209 Posted November 14, 2016 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 18 Topic Count: 347 Topics Per Day: 0.13 Content Count: 7,458 Content Per Day: 2.70 Reputation: 5,371 Days Won: 1 Joined: 09/27/2016 Status: Offline Author Share Posted November 14, 2016 14 hours ago, shel said: So sorry this happened Dennis. It must be a terrible loss for you. I am a mental health professional, and while I don't go around rebuking demons at work, I don't think we can completely separate mental illness from demonic activity, any more than we can completely separate ANY kind of earthly fallenness from demonic activity - war, sickness, poverty, etc. God gave us authority over the earth, we forfeited it to Satan, and Jesus won it back for us. I think Satan loves to use every means of fallenness he can get his hands on, and I think we need to use our God-given authority to stop him. Thank you Shel! Evidently I wasn't thinking about it that way and I think you're right on the button. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sailingsoul Posted November 15, 2016 Group: Members Followers: 2 Topic Count: 3 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 43 Content Per Day: 0.02 Reputation: 23 Days Won: 0 Joined: 10/22/2016 Status: Offline Share Posted November 15, 2016 I wonder why people see mental illness as being demonnposessed and not physical. Ailments.. If you have a cold are you. Possessed? No. all I can see is this going down hill and the mentally ill. Being treated as less then human... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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