Blog 14: When Religion & Spirituality Collide

I Do Not Care

• I do not care if you do not practice organized religion.
• I do not care if you do not believe in spirituality.
• I do not care if you do not believe in God.
• I do not care if you believe in Satan.
• I do not care if you are "spiritual."
• I do not care if you believe in no connection between God versus Satan.

Repeat After Me,
"IT DOES NOT MATTER"

• Whether or not you believe in God, God must be used to rid Nebulous Children from the dark realities of what they see for example, "Dark Angels." And, Dark Angels are demons. Period.
• They scare children.
• They drive children to take actions that they otherwise would not.
• They talk to children.
• They create havoc within the lives of these children.
• They do cause symptoms of mental illness.
• They manipulate children.
• They will not leave children, (houses too), unless commanded to in God's name.

I said God's name, yes! Whether you want to believe that this helps children or not, it does and I am a witness to it. It helped children far more than any medication that was used to rid children of their alleged hallucinations and delusions. Now, that is not to say that symptoms of mental illness are not real in children - they are very real, but so are the ghosts that the children see as well. 

I was not trained to use God or the Bible in college, not at all. As a matter of fact, I knew of a professor who once told me that the Alcoholic Anonymous (AA) programs did not need to use "God" within their recovery slogan. And, that God needed to be separate from psychological treatment as well as in schools. Believe me when I share with you that I had to learn how to work with these children on the fly, and with the help of many professionals and friends to learn how to improve the livelihood of these children. Each one of them, including Pastors, taught me to use God against the symptoms of mental illness that were manifesting within these children due to their ability to hear and to see ghosts.

This is not new in psychology...

...although some like to pretend that it is. I recall walking up and down the hallways of psychology units in hospitals watching individuals smile, talk to, and interact with things that I could not see. When I would ask what was there, so many of them told me that it was either God's angels or Satan's demons. Yet, they were hospitalized and I remember thinking that our field was doing something wrong with hospitalizing so many individuals who I just sat and talked to that seemed "normal." They would describe the dark spirits as having a commanding voice, deep, and always male. Personally, I know someone with Schizophrenia who shared the same details with me, but described the voices as "demonic." 

​Chicago
While a practicum student in Chicago, I trained with a Psychiatrist who became one of my favorite Psychiatrists/teachers. He was good at it; very patient, and he still works at the hospital training future Psychologists and Psychiatrists. He had a patient who I will call patient 1 who claimed to see demons. The demons were putting bugs all over her body especially her arms. We had another patient who was hallucinating that day as well, patient 2. In both cases, the emergency room (ER) medical doctors sent both to my Psychiatrist's (trainer's) unit for a mental health assessment.

What symptoms did you just read from both patients?

• Hallucinations
• Delusions
• Demons
• Bugs crawling

As a practicum student, what hypotheses do you think that I spoke to my trainer about for both of these patients?

• Schizophrenia, Paranoid Type (yes)
• Delusional Disorder (yes)
• You are correct about both disorders.
• Of course, now I can not think of other disorders, but back then that was all.

Now, my trainer sent both patients back to the treating ER physicians.

• Why?
• He told me something that I never forgot about, and continue to live by it in practice:

"Sometimes physicians are far too quick to send patients with psychological symptoms to Psychiatry without fully examining them." "When that happens, you send them right back to that treating physician for further tests."

In the meantime, I had to be the one to tell the families. I remember how my knees felt at the time, but this Psychiatrist always challenged me. Patient 2 was easy because the family was easily on board with more tests to assess the hallucinations. However, I walked into Patient 1's room and she said, "The bugs are crawling on me from the demons, the demons are putting the bugs on my arms." Patient 1 also told me,

"You have to believe me!"

That was my 2nd time hearing this statement, or close to it. I sat on her bed which was not something that I typically did in the hospital, and I spent a long time speaking with Patient 1. Apparently, the demon was right behind me and it kept giving her the sensation of bugs crawling up her arm. I could not see it, but I listened.

This was my 2nd experience with demons in the field of psychology.

Patient 1 said that everyone believed that she was "crazy," even her family, but she was sane and plagued by this demon who would not leave her alone. I did not know what to do, but my trainer, the Psychiatrist, wanted to know what happened after I told the patients that they were getting more tests. I shared it all including what Patient 1 told me about the demons. The bedside manner of this Psychiatrist was phenomenal, and Patient 1's story was believed. 

"When working with patients, you have to believe them."

• Patient 1 had a completely "normal" brain scan and was not hospitalized.
• Patient 2 had a worm in the brain from eating uncooked pork which was completely treatable.
  • "This is the reason that we must not jump quickly to mental illness," said my Psychiatrist trainer.
  • This patient was treated by the ER Physician and hospitalized.
  • Results:
    • This why I listen to my clients without moving quickly toward mental illness.
    • This is also why I lean toward the catalyst for symptoms, as opposed to immediate diagnoses.
    • Learning that have served me well over the years.

Nebulous Children
​When Nebulous Children and their families have a religious background, it made treatment easier because they believe in God and prayer. When children and families did not have a religious background, most of those kids saw "Dark Angels," which made assisting them a bit more difficult, but possible. That's just the way that it was, and how my stories continued to develop throughout the years. I had to learn to incorporate God into my treatment but remember, this was not for ALL of my clients only the Nebulous Children unless otherwise directed.

If you want to work with these kids, you do need to understand that God and Satan do come into play, and being spiritual may not be enough to treat their symptoms. You will need to tell the children how to rid themselves of dark spirits in the name of the Lord. That is when religion and spirituality collide. 

• You will need to believe that they see God's angels, (that's what they call them), and Satan's demons.
• You will need to protect yourself and your family in God's name.
• You will need to remove dark spirits from your home (children say they can follow you)
• You will need to pray with the children as appropriate and allowed.
• You may need to clear your office space to make them feel comfortable.
• You may encounter supernatural events that will require you to become stronger in God.
• You will need to learn more about God, angels, and demons mostly described/depicted in the Bible.
• Sorry, but that's how it will go for you. I never said it was easy.