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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 3 of 3. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by sasha71 on January 21, 2004, at 19:32:39
I debated about which forum to post this is and decided since God is such a divisive topic,
I'd probably better come over here to begin with where at least asking God for help isn't heresy.Ok - here's my question.
I read/hear/see where people suffering from various forms of mental illnesses beg God for help in different
aspects of their lives - either diagnosis, maintaining, medication, withdrawal, etc.My specific question deals with asking God to help with withdrawal problems stemming from choosing to wean
oneself from the prescribed medication. Why haven't these people considered the possibility that the help they are
requesting from God, goes against what he was trying to do in providing access to these medications to begin with?I'm *not* saying the withdrawal symptoms are punishments or anything like that for 'not listening to him'.
It kind of reminds me of a joke about a priest/minister/rabbi/good-all-around-person whose house was flooding. Person
crawled to roof of house and begged God to save him. A person in a boat, the Coast Guard in a rescue ship, and a helicopter
all came in turn to help this man and he waved them off saying God would save him. The man dies. When he sees God, he asked Him
"why didn't you save me? I've been a good man all my life." God says, "I sent you 3 chances, what more did you want?"If we entertain the notion that our intelligence and ability to learn/create/discover things come from God - then it follows
the medication we have developed for mental illnesses could be God's way to help us. And it is up to us to decide for ourselves if
we can live with the side-effects as the medications are improved upon and eventually (we hope) perfected.Why beg God to help us quit using the help He has provided us to begin with?
I"m just a bit confused. I hope my question isn't too confusing and maybe this will be an interesting topic to explore.
Posted by Basia on January 25, 2004, at 5:44:50
In reply to Asking God for help, posted by sasha71 on January 21, 2004, at 19:32:39
i totally agree with you sasha. we've got to be realistic about what we've been given. btw, do you or anyone else reading have any problems with intermittent lack of faith? if so, what do you do? have you ever had any experience that has cemented your faith?
thanks a million,depressed and having a crisis of faith..
Lyn
Posted by holymama on January 25, 2004, at 16:35:21
In reply to Asking God for help, posted by sasha71 on January 21, 2004, at 19:32:39
Dear Sasha,
I don't know if this will help, but I'll give it a go.I believe in God. I also believe that God gave us the free will to make our own decisions. I try to make my decisions based on what would be the best thing for myself, my family, the world... I also think this is the decision God would like me to make.
So when faced with a decision such as whether or not to be on a medication, yes, I think God gave us the ability ro create medications to conquer illnesses. But we are only human, and we have not perfected these medications. Some people need to wean themselves because of side effects, pregnancy, to try a different medication...So it all comes down to our free will. We need to try to make the best decision that has the best effect on ourselves and those around us.When I ask for help from God, I usually try not to make it too specific -- "help me to go off my medication", for example. I try to ask for things such as strength and wisdom -- things that I know from experience I can get from praying, and knowing that I am not a perfect person and I may not know the best answer, I figure that strength and wisdom will help lead me in the right direction. That is how I pray, but everyone does it differently!
Dear Basia,
I too suffer from a lack of faith when I am depressed. In fact, every time I have ever been depressed (there have been many, many times!), I look forward to a great spirituality at the end of it. I am bipolar, and my last mania was completely religious. I developed a really big faith in God that has not gone away now that I am medicated. Being on the right medications (an antidepressant and a mood stabilizer for me) keeps me even and so far has worked to keep me out of the depressions that take away my faith as well as other wonderful things.
I really think there is a strong link between depression/mania and faith/spirituality. It's really interesting to me, and I have often thought that my depressions have been some sort of spiritual crisis. Modern medicine would never see it that way, and I find it a bit disturbing that for all of the importance religion/spirituality has for me and the strong connection it has with my mood cycles, my therapist and psychiatrist blow it off as chemical abnormalities.
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