"They (Mental Health Professionals) viewed some of his beliefs as a kind of psychosis..."

[cleanhippie]

Found this in an article that deals with a much larger issue. This particular topic has been brought up here before, so I thought I would share it.

"They viewed some of his beliefs as a kind of psychosis - and yet they were also part of a worldview shared by millions of mentally healthy people."

--snip--

Then there were the grey areas.

A patient named Brian had beaten his mother to death with a baseball bat, believing her to be possessed by the Devil. Brian was a Pentecostal Christian. He'd been doing well in treatment, but one of his obstacles was that he still believed his mother had been possessed - only now, he conceded that the killing was a pointless act, given that the Devil can't be killed.

Brian presented a dilemma for the hospital. They viewed some of his beliefs as a kind of psychosis - and yet they were also part of a worldview shared by millions of mentally healthy people.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31962182

Discuss.

[annabanana]

1. "worldview shared by millions of mentally healthy people."

Some might take exception to that characterization..

[steve2470]

2. a vexing dilemma for mental health professionals, to be sure nt

[AtheistCrusader]

3. Clearly religion had nothing to do with this.

[trotsky]

4. Casting Out Demons: Pope Francis Declares Support for Exorcisms

http://www.livescience.com/48563-pope-francis-supports-exorcisms.html

[Warren Stupidity]

5. Look it is only a psychotic delusion if you kill your mother with a baseball bat.

before you do that you are not delusional, even though your ideas are identical and only your actions are different, and anyone who says different is a bigot.