Do I or My Loved One Have Mental Illness

[ ] Is my world view different now?

[ ] Are most of my "thoughts" about myself and my feelings?

[ ] Do most of my conversations and thoughts begin with "I"?

[ ] Am I preoccupied with intruding thoughts that interfere with work, school and relationships?

[ ] Do I have nightmares (night terrors) that interfere with sleep?

[ ] Do I have trouble getting out of bed?

[ ] Do I have trouble leaving the house?

[ ] Do I have "problems" with my sexual identity?

[ ] Do I deposit my bowel movement in the urinal or save it for projects?

[ ] My visions, voices, or thoughts tell me to do things which get me into trouble.

[ ] I believe things which my family or acquaintances do not (or would not) accept.

[ ] I had turmoil in high school (age 14-17), but in college (age 18-21) things really began to go astray in my life.

[ ] I have these bursts of energy where my talent blossoms and I perform exceptionally well, even without sleep, but then I crash and cannot function well at all for awhile.

[ ] Everybody pushes my buttons (of - anger, fear, distrust, criticism, bitterness, jealousy, resentment)

Another check list to help identify warning signs of illness or relapse include some of the following symptoms:

(However, please keep in mind that anti-psychotic drugs can often precipitate many of the below symptoms.
2nd, never rule out the possibility of true "spiritual/supernatural" experiences (holy/saintly or demonic),
which can be often best be discussed with clergy such as a Catholic exorcist or Pentecostal cleric.)

[ ] I have no interest in doing things.

[ ] I have no interest in my appearance

[ ] My nutrition is not the best; I under/over eat; I eat only junk/fast food; I seldom eat live food.

[ ] I am preoccupied with masturbation/porn and/or sexual/homosexual/lesbian/transsexual thoughts/fantasies.

[ ] I do have out of body experiences, from time to time; I have been kidnapped by an UFO.

We all may have, from time to time, any of the above issues, especially after a personal crisis. However, if the above and similar issues become predominant in our lives, where our "normal" life becomes less and our "new" life becomes more, to the extent that we cannot function without great difficulty, then we need to discuss and work with a "safe" person, before we so isolate ourselves that we may lose the ability to get help. That is because, as the illness worsens, so does the loss of insight - then it becomes emotionally safer and safer to live on the street, rather than live with those who can walk with us, as we work out our dilemmas.

A priest Father Hampsch in Healing Your Family Tree advises, "An astonishing number of mental patients suffer from the presence of 'spirits' or the intrusion of 'voices'..., audible only to themselves. Psychiatrists not familiar with demonology usually dismiss these phenomena as expressions of insanity, and in some cases they are correct."
Father Hampsch continues on to state, "The Eucharist is the single most powerful exorcistic prayer available to us."
Always remember that the famous "Our Father" prayer that Jesus taught His disciples contains the words "deliver us from the evil one". If one is ill in the hospital and cannot pray well, just repeat often one single word, "Jesus". It is the best prayer and the best medicine!

Mike Murdock was told that mental illnesses such as schizophrenia may be caused by receiving intellectual information that one is not emotionally mature enough to receive. This is called emotional trauma. This is a trigger that may open the door to mental illness. It behooves parents to shield sensitive children or young adults from sensitive information, especially if there is a history of mental illness in the family genealogy.

Keep a diary of your (or your family member's) psychotic events, dates of occurrence, medications and the reasons for them, plus his/her/your dreams/nightmares. Check for first occurrences and look for triggers. Check for patterns and look for reasons. Make sure to take into consideration puberty, menses, and menopause. If there is alien abduction, then demon activity could be involved. Same applies to sexual molestation by aliens. It is during sleep that one is less likely to be able to protect oneself against spiritual terrorists. Witches/Satanists/demons/etc like to inflict evil upon unsuspecting victims who are not protected with the blood of Jesus. Each day read aloud Psalm 91 and cover yourself (and/or your relative) with the blood of Jesus.

Additionally do a family tree. Evaluate what diseases/maladies/disorders/depression/cancer/etc your ancestors had. Evaluate your spiritual ancestry - Catholic/Jewish/Protestant/agnostic/divorces/abortions/ suicide/etc. Sit in a church and repent for each malady. Watch to see if the mental illness symptoms have improved or gone into remission. If so thank God.

The RESOURCES page at web site www.schizophrenia-info.info suggest a lot of good doctors, clinics, literature, and other "safe" alternative and conventional resources that have worked for many many people. The sooner we plug into them or others, the sooner we and our loved ones will be at peace.

Do not forget to plug into God. We may not like Him or know Him, but He is a key to our healing. Remember, He made us, so He can fix us, but we have to give Him permission. The first step is to make sure He is not our enemy. We need to reconcile with God if we are separated from Him. We may want to check out some of our local synagogues, churches, or resources listed on this web site. Today God often works in the flesh (through people), the same way He used to work His healings through Jesus.

Remember also, we may NOT be mentally ill, but we may have a mental illness. Just like cancer. We might have cancer, but we are not the cancer. Just because we are in a garage, does not make us a car. Just because we are or were in a mental hospital or ward does not make us permanently insane. We have a disease, but the disease does not have us. Why? Diseases are curable. If not today, then tomorrow. Maybe the doctor told us we have mental illness and that we will always have it, but that we can hold it in remission as long as we take our medicine. Well God has told us in scripture that Jesus is our healer. Who are we going to believe? Our doctor or God's word? Jesus went about curing all sorts of diseases, yesterday, today, AND tomorrow. Jesus will also cure us, if we are patient, willing to let Him be our doctor, willing to grow spiritually, and willing to hope, expect and believe in God's mercy, ability, faithfulness, and willingness to heal. Yes, we can continue to take our medicine, while NEVER losing hope in God's word that we will be well; for God's word is the best medicine. Let us also remember to use mother nature's medicine (herbs and supplements) which have helped many and healed some.

Keep in mind that:
(a) More and more doctors agree that many mental illness are chemical imbalances of the brain.
(b) More and more pastors believe that demons, especially inherited evil spirits, may be playing tricks on our minds. (Do NOT be afraid that a demon might be bothering us or might be the root cause of our problems. Everybody in the whole world may have demons bothering them. After all, they were here on earth before we were. The root problem of many negative emotions may be demons. For instance, our rage might be influenced by the evil spirit of rage. Suicide might be the idea of the evil spirit of suicide, and not our own idea.)
(c) Either way, there is help now in this generation for both of these theories.
(d) One will find quite a few testimonies of healings scattered throughout this web site. The autobiographies are very exciting and encouraging.

There are those who believe that they have committed the unpardonable sin. This is a popular lie of Satan. The truly unpardonable sin is not what we do, but what we fail to do. What is that unpardonable sin of omission? If we do NOT choose Jesus as our Lord and Savior, then by default we reject Jesus. Thus the curse of being separated from God remains on us.
Matthew 26:24 "It had been good for that man if he had not been born."
Luke 12:10 (KJV) Whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man (Jesus Christ), it shall be forgiven him, but to him that blasphemes against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven.
Both Smith Wigglesworth and Derek Prince cite in their books that if one believes that he has committed the unpardonable sin, then in all likelihood that is not true. In all likelihood it is a "lying spirit" that, (right NOW) IN THE NAME OF JESUS, needs to be bound and cast out and placed under the feet of Jesus. (So, if you are the one being assaulted/oppressed by tormenting thoughts, then right NOW say,
" IN THE NAME OF JESUS, tormenting thoughts, I bind and cast you under the feet of Jesus." Repeat EACH time they attempt to return!)
The Holy Spirit convicts of sin, but the evil spirit condemns. The evil spirit attempts to torture the mind. He is not a nice fellow.

Baxter, Mary K with Lowery, Dr T L A Divine Revelation of the Spirit Realm www.whitakerhouse.com
Chapter 6 Evil Spirits and God's Power Over Them cites that a severe personality change may indicate mental illness, when the individual loses his/her identity to an oppressing/possessing demon attempting to control the thoughts/possess the mind. The individual needs to refuse/reject/not listen to any thought that would hinder him/her. Sitting in a chapel, one can repent of listening to voices/thoughts that interfere with normal living/working/cleanliness/happiness. One can ask Jesus to be his/her savior. Then one can, in the name of Jesus, bind any hindering/harmful ideas/thoughts/voices and place them under the feet of Jesus. Next, one can ask the Holy Spirit to fill the mind with His thoughts/ideas. Lastly, one can thank God. For the next hours/days/weeks one can remind God and any intruding thoughts that God is here and the trouble is not, that blessings are coming and are already here, in the name of Jesus.

Cho, David Yonggi The Holy Spirit My Senior Partner www.charismahouse.com publisher
Subtitle Understanding the Holy Spirit & His Gifts - including author's personal testimony
Chapter 3 Names and Symbols of the Holy Spirit "As I talk with these suffering people, they confess without exception that lewdness, wrong thinking and abusive language flow through them against their own wills. These are the works of the devil. Such people should determine to stand firmly on the Word of truth Applying the Word of God and continuously fight against Satan Spiritual Warfare until they drive him out, relying upon the cleansing power of the precious blood of Jesus Healing through applying the blood of Christ. If they don't, they will surely become mentally disabled." until such time that they and those with them stand defensively and aggressively against the wiles of the devil! Standing in the gap
Cho, Paul Yonggi The 4th Dimension www.bridgelogos.com publish
"'Strong feelings of guilt. whenever my husband makes love to me, I feel like a prostitute...My children come and hug me...I am not worthy to receive this kind of love from my children. I don't like to look at my face in the mirror. That is the reason I can't attire myself in the proper way.'
...'You MUST forgive yourself.'" (and not dismiss what Jesus did on the cross. Many in that generation missed out on receiving free forgiveness and thus missed out on going to heaven.)

Dickerman, Don When Pigs Move In http://www.dondickerman.net
Dickerman in Appendix lists 37 Biblical Curses, Grouping of Various Evil Spirits by function/assignment, and 60 Symptoms of Demonic Attack.
Chapter 22 Keeping Gates Closed shares clues or symptoms of demon activity: Ancestry, Lying, Unforgiveness, Negativity sins, Rejection issues, Trauma, Abuse, Sexual impurity, Dishonoring one's body, Occult activity, Pride, Blasphemy, Unholy objects.

Hicks, James W 50 Signs of Mental Illness www.yalebooks.com
Conventional approach to psychiatry. Book has expansive/excellent summary of conventional web sites.

Kendall, RT Once Saved, Always Saved www.rtkendallministries.com
British Kendall now ministering from Key Largo, Florida, USA says this is a new understanding for him.

MacNutt, Francis Deliverance from Evil Spirits www.christianhealingmin.org
An obvious sign of demonization is when an individual speaks in the plural.

Peck, M Scott People of the Lie Simon & Schuster publisher 1983
Mental illness or being psychotic (having a psychotic episode) can have numerous root issues/causes including emotional, physical, and demonic. (A garage can have a car and not be a car!)

PDM Task Force Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual (PDM) www.apa.org
Conventional medical/psychiatric diagnostic tool/view of mental illness according to the consensus of the American Psychoanalytic Assoc, International Psychoanalytical Assoc, American Academy of Psychoanalysis, and Dynamic Psychiatric National Membership Committee on Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work
This possibly may replace the DSM manuals for insurance purposes.

Matthew 16:22-23 KJVer Peter took Him (Jesus) and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Be it far from You, Lord. This shall not be to You." He (Jesus) turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan. You are an offense (obstruction) to Me. You savor (understand) not the things that are of God, but those that are of men." (Spiritual insight = Even a disciple of Jesus had/allowed a demon to speak through him.)

Luke 22:3 KJVer Satan entered into Judas, surnamed Iscariot, being of the 12 (disciples).
(Spiritual Insight = Remember, before this incident the disciples had gone around in pairs, healing and delivering people.)

John 13:21 KJVer He (Jesus) was troubled in spirit and testified, "Verily, verily, I say to you that 1 of you (12 disciples) shall betray Me."
John 13:26-27 KJVer Jesus answered, "To whom I give a sop, when I have dipped it." When He had dipped the sop, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. After (Judas ate) the sop (communion morsel of bread dipped in wine), Satan entered into him.

Dickerman, Don When Pigs Move In http://www.dondickerman.net
Dickerman says that Gentiles can be possessed, whereas Christians and Messianic Jews can only be demonized/oppressed.

Hammond, Frank and Ida Mae Pigs in the Parlor www.thechildrensbread.net
Hammond reminds us that the King James translation of the Greek word daimonizomai is "possessed", which is incorrect and should be "demonized". No Christian can be "possessed". Both Christians and non Christians can be demonized, and most are. Hammond urges each member of a Christian family to recommit himself to Christ and then go through a deliverance. Christians can deliver themselves, if need be. Why? The Bible explains that Satan and his helpers were defeated by Christ 2000 years ago. That is why God does NOT answer a deliverance prayer. Is is OUR job to bind and cast out demons, not God's job. God's job is done. In fact, it is our obligation to use all the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Heal, deliver, do miracles, teach, preach, etc. That means every Christian needs to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, after receiving salvation and water baptism, in the name of Jesus Christ. One more item. Hammond contends that Satan has NO legal right to a Christian, as some teach. Others teach that sin (their own or inherited) allows Satan to have a legal right to oppress or indwell (demonize) anybody, Christian or not. Hammond thinks that Christians and others are demonized due to ignorance of what Satan does and how, plus due to ignorance of the fact that Jesus (not Satan) has the legal title to our minds. Hammond insists that we can and must evict the enemy. This book will encourage and equip you. [Hammond seems to contradict himself. What Hammond means is that until such time that Christians wake up, demons will have squatters rights. Thus, the demons have NO legal title to/ownership (possession) of a Christian, because Christ bought our house/body 2000 years ago. However, demons can oppress Christians from the outside, rent (demonize) through unrecognized/unconfessed sin, or trespass illegally (through inheritance).]

MacNutt, Francis Deliverance from Evil Spirits www.christianhealingmin.org
Subtitle = A Practical Manual
Chapter 12 How the Demonized Person Prepares for Deliverance shares a questionnaire that includes 33 sample questions including: Have you ever, just for fun, out of curiosity or in earnest (1) had your fortune told (2) read a horoscope (3) practiced yoga or transcendental meditation (6) played with a Quija board, tarot cards, or Dungeons and Dragons? MacNutt categorizes evil spirits into 4 types - wounding, sinful, occult, ancestral. He, among others, believes that these are one of the reasons for/root causes of mental illness/psychotic episodes. Invisible evil spirits can trouble both the sane and the insane, especially at night.

Healing Scripture from New Testament Healing Scripture from Old Testament

Foster, K Neill Identifying the Demonized: The Occult Subjection Syndrome http://www.kneillfoster.com/articles/warfare/identifying.html
Symptoms or Indicators of Demonization - depending on author - may include habitual
1. Terrorizing fear
2. Unbelief, often associated with intellectual concepts, aversion to divine things
3. Obsessive sexual problems
4. Pseudo-charismata, heresies and other religious beliefs/aberrations
5. Compulsive behavior
6. Ancestral occult bondage
7. Inexplicable illness
8. Suicidal/murderous intent
9. Spiritism, clairvoyance and witchcraft
10. Inner voices

Ernest B. Rockstad's #1 The Battle - Can a Christian Have a Demon? and other authors - overview
http://www.seekthetruthonline.org/war-on-the-saints/free-ebooks/THEDELIVERANCEMANUAL.pdf
excerpt http://seekhisface.com/VOICES/Deliverance%20Manuals/Moody/battle1.htm
"WARNING SIGNALS - POSSIBLE NEED FOR DELIVERANCE
Characteristics noted below merit a closer look when they are pronounced, persistent or recurrent over a period of time, or progressive - tending to become more, rather than less, extreme...
1. Confused or disordered thinking: loss of touch with reality - delusions (persistence of erroneous convictions in the face of contrary evidence) - hallucinations; disconnected speech.
2. Obsessions: absorption with a subject or idea to the exclusion of others - compulsions - uncontrollable urges.
3. Inability to cope: with minor problems - with daily routine.
4. Difficulty in making/keeping friends: poor social skills - isolation, withdrawal from society - "loner" life-style.
5. A pattern of failure across-the-board: at school - at work - in sports - in personal relationships.
6. Prolonged or severe depression: suicide threats/attempts.
7. Immaturity: infantile behavior (such as bed-wetting) - over dependence on the mother (excessive clinging as a child - continuing dependence in teens and twenties) - failure to keep pace with peer group.
8. A series of physical ailments which do not run a typical course and/or fail to respond to treatment.
9. Neglect of personal hygiene (disheveled and unsanitary surroundings)
or exaggerated concern for order and for cleanliness.
10. Difficulty adjusting to new people and places.
11. Undue anxiety and worry: phobias - feelings of being persecuted.
12. Too much or too little sleep.
13. Excessive self-centeredness: indifference to other people's feelings, doings, ideas -
lack of sympathy with another's pain or need.
14. Substantial rapid weight - gain or loss.
15. Muted, 'flat' emotions (absence of angry/delighted/sorrowing reactions to stimuli) or inappropriate emotions (sharp, inexplicable mood swings - silliness at serious moments, unpredictable tears).
16. Negative self-image and outlook: "inferiority" complex - feelings of worthlessness.
17. Frequent random changes of plans: inability to stick with a job, a school program, a living arrangement - failure to keep appointments, abide by decisions.
18. Extreme aggressiveness (combativeness, hostility - violence, rage) or exaggerated docility
(lack of normal competitiveness and self-assertion - refusal to confront, avoidance of argument).
19. Risk-taking.
20. Lack of zest and enthusiasm:
listlessness, sadness, mood habitually 'down' -limited or missing sense of humor."

Remember all humans get sick/ill/diseases; however we can REFUSE to accept what knocks at our door! We can refuse to accept the mail man's package with the bomb inside. Everybody and everything that knocks at our door, we do NOT have to let in! Let us begin to refute, reject, evict all the negatives, inviting in only positives. When a rotten thought comes to visit and wants to stay overnight, we can say NO.
Just say, "No - in the name of Jesus Christ."
It is also a matter of replacing stinking thinking with God's thoughts. Speak the Word of God This is called SPIRITUAL WARFARE or binding + loosing .