Religion
In reply to the discussion: Religious Belief = Mental Illness: A More Venomous Response [View all]skepticscott
(13,029 posts)Would there be NO cases in which it would be accurate to evaluate such frequent hand washing as OCD? Of course not, so your point is rather silly. I could provide any number of other examples that work even better, frankly. Your point that it is illegitimate to discern mental illness from behavior is doubly silly, since even mental health professionals can be wrong in such an evaluation. The possibility of making an incorrect evaluation does not invalidate the ability to do so correctly in some cases. And I'm certainly not talking about making a formal diagnosis, then going up to the person and telling them that I've determined they have OCD. On top of that, your point is triply silly, because this discussion wasn't even about such an evaluation being "wrong", but whether using a label of mental illness must always and in every case be perjorative. If I tell a friend of mine, after observing a familiar pattern of behavior, that I think they have a gambling addiction and should get help for it, I've labeled them as mentally ill. Is doing so perjorative? Yes or no?
Nor am I saying that "religion persuasion" as a monolithic entity constitutes mental illness. That you would try to attribute something to me that I obviously haven't said is also rather odd behavior. How would you evaluate it? What I've said is that certain manifestations of religious belief can qualify as mental illness. Do you admit or deny that the DSM specifically acknowledges that delusions or delusional behavior which qualify as mental illness CAN be religious in nature?