Quite a lot of mental illness manifests itself in religious ways -- people talk to God, see angels, or even imagine themselves to be Jesus Christ. The link between religious beliefs and certain mental illnesses is quite strong. But what about atheists who develop such mental illnesses -- are the symptoms different?
A forum member writes:
I had a recent experience with a disturbed person. This is part of an endless cycle of her deciding to go off the medication until something bad enough to send her back to the hospital happens. We had always assumed severe depression, but this time we had the opportunity to see paranoia, delusion, and what one might describe as non-rational thinking.
Religious zeal increases in proportion to the declining mental state, which brings me to my question: Certainly there must be clinically insane atheists, but how do they express it? Lots of people seem to hear demons and gods - what do atheists hear?
This is an interesting question. What happens with irreligious atheists? Perhaps they cease to be irreligious atheists? Add your thoughts to the comments here or join the ongoing discussion in the forum.
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