How do mental health professionals handle people who see spirits? In most cultures, people are expected to behave within certain parameters that the culture has declared as “normal.”
Mental Health Professionals in the West
People who exhibit behaviors outside of “normal” are examined. In the United States, their behaviors are measured against the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders, Version 5 (DSM-5)and other criteria. Based on the diagnosis, certain therapy and/or drugs are administered to try and regulate the internal processes of the client, so that their behavior becomes “normal.”
This process is based on the scientific materialist worldview: the belief that all that exists is matter and energy, and people are mainly chemicals and processes. If there is a “spirit” reality, it’s far “less real” than the physical reality. Quantum physics demonstrates scientifically there are many challenges with this worldview. It is, in fact, a failed worldview, despite the many successes it has produced for modern civilization.
My wife Amy is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and was recently in a meeting where other professional counselors were discussing the proper procedure to treat a child who declares he or she sees ghosts, spirit “friends”, or other people who aren’t there. All sorts of therapuetic procedures were discussed to address these delusions. Amy wanted to ask, “What if the child is telling the truth?”
But she did not, because of the worldview challenges.
Embrace the Reality of the Supernatural
If you are a mental health professional, consider this: Do you have clients who see things that aren’t there? Are they merely hallucinating or are they telling the truth? How can you tell?
No doubt, some people who see things are hallucinating. Others are not. In the past, people who saw spirits were called witches and killed. Today, they’re called insane and locked up. Western medicine really hasn’t come that far with respect to the spiritual world.
It’s time to the abandon short-sided, close-minded materialist worldview, and consider other alternatives to certain odd behaviors in our clients.
Am I saying all behavior outside of normal parameters is spirit-influenced? That the “devil made them do it?” Not at all. But some are. And while not an excuse for psychotic behavior (because humans have free will), the reality of the spirit world should not be ignored.
For instance, if a parent is playing with a ouija board to talk with spirits, we should expect the children in the household to manifest odd behaviors. The solution isn’t to institutionalize the child, but to stop the summoning of the parents and clean house. (Institutionalization may be needed for various reasons). My point is, we are very complicated creatures and multiple reasons for behaviors should be considered.
Seers and Drugs
Some articles about seers who took psychotropic drugs, pain medicines, or smoked pot…
Seers and Drugs – a very early article when I was first alerted to the idea that the seer’s ability may be rooted in brain chemistry.
How Does a Seer See into the Spirit Realm – a popular article that discusses the impact of psychotropic and pain meds on the seer ability.
Cannabis and Spirituality – Interesting and negative effects of smoking pot.
Contact us if you’d like to dialogue about these issues.