When answering paranormal questions do the believers ever consider mental Illness?

Question

Many questions I see it is evident the asker may need help, but the only ones who give them advise to seek help seem to be the skeptics. Why is this?

Answer 1

Because the mentally ill don't want to help their own kind? You have to have some sort of mental illness to believe the kind of c**p some people believe when it comes to ghosts and other paranormal BS.

Answer 2

Yes, there are mentally ill people, and some even have paranormal experiences.  Consider the case of the serial killer Son of Sam who heard voices instructing him to kill.

But the vast majority of people who have unexplainable experiences are not mentally ill.   I think that most of them do not admit to having had such experiences precisely because there are those who would advise them to "get help."   It is easy to malign and gossip someone who was unwise enough to admit such an experience to the wrong person/people.

Answer 3

I find this funny, since I am a believer--who also suffered from acute mental problems for half of my life.

Mental disturbance can certainly be an explanation--but I don't think it should necessarily be the first and definitely not the only explanation.  

Skeptics, who cannot comprehend that there might be more out there than they, personally, have experienced, tend to assume that there ISN'T anything else, and therefore mental illness MUST be the cause.

Personally, I think that all possibilities should be explored, and a person may indeed be mentally ill--but that doesn't always mean that their experiences are false.

Answer 4

Yes, some people may need help with mental issues, but I don't feel this is the place for it.

To start, most people here would be armchair psychologists at best and are not in any way qualified to make a diagnosis.

Further, a handful of questions or answers is not enough evidence to make a proper diagnosis even if the reader was in fact qualified.

I also think that dismissing a question as c**p doesn't help the person at all. What would be helpful would be to include substaniated sources that back up your opinion so that the person asking a question can then go forward and investigate.

While some people may be of the opinion that a questioner needs help - I have yet to see anyone include a link to a site with helpful info related to  mental illness.

Answer 5

The paranormal can drive you crazy...That's why it's so important for psychiatrists to learn the difference between something that's  from a mental illness and something that's paranormal.Otherwise, they drug people on horrible drugs for no reason and make them worse.

If someone has experienced paranormal things that make them really nervous or excited..even to a state of panic...they need medication for their nerves and counseling with someone who believes about the paranormal....NOT for schizophrenia or manic depression etc. What's just as bad as someone being mentally ill and thinking it's paranormal is someone experiencing the paranormal and thinking or being told they're  mentally ill. (If you want to help some people who really need mental help..go over to the R&S Section. There are lots of them over there.)(I'm not talking about the rational religious people over there.)

Answer 6

In my experience here, some have. But the tendency I've seen is to ignore that possibility in favor of the paranormal explanations (to be fair, sometimes believers suggest natural explanations as well). Usually that's not a big deal, but from time to time some a question pops up that really makes you think that the person may be a danger to him/herself or others and you really want them to at least talk to a mental professional, just to be safe.

There is some misinformation on skeptics being posted in an answer to this question (no surprise there!), which is that skeptics resort to the mental illness explanation by default. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I do NOT think that mental illness is very commonly the right explanation for perceived paranormal phenomena, but sometimes it should be considered as being "on the list". In my opinion, though, it is NOT acceptable to diagnose someone via Yahoo Answers or to suggest that they go to a website where they can diagnose themselves, especially where mental illness is concerned.

Answer 7

I don't know and i'm not going to sit and tell everyone "omg its real!!" if you don't believe then you are shutting yourself off from this.. like the first person.. I don't like when people sit there and say its not real and you need to have problems to believe.. just because they have never seen or don't have any proof.. if he had seen some of the things i seen growing up and things that happened in my house when i was younger he'd believe. Glasses used to lift off the table right in front of you and thrown across the room and smashed.. they just haven't seen anything.. and they shut themselves off of the idea that there is more to life then just born and dying.. I have so many stories between me and my sisters and parents (let alone the rest of my family) we could write a book on ghost stories. My aunt is psychic to.. she has predicted MANY things including a fire in my house.. where it would start.. the date and how it started.. all were correct..

Answer 8

I am a believer in the paranormal and have many, many experiences of my own.  I also am a psychologist and if I think there may be something wrong with the person, I will encourage them to talk to someone.  However, if I was my client;  I'm not sure I would believe me either if I wasn't a believer.  I feel the skeptics just take any opportunity to try to make people believe they are "crazy".  Having a mental illness and experiencing paranormal events are not mutually exclusive.  I do believe when I think I see somebody in trouble, I will offer a hand to help them distinguish the difference.  Believing in the paranormal is not "normal" to the skeptics, however believing in the paranormal does not mean a person isn't human with problems-just like everybody else.  I guess we can be normal paranormal believers who at times may be abnormal.

Answer 9

Considering that a good amount of the respondents are around 13 to 17 years of age, they are the first ones to post the person has a demon and needs an exorcism.

One should base their opinion by experience..........not by mass hysteria, or by an organization dedicated to brainwashing their "flock."

Some people in here attempt to give an alternative perspective to an alleged "haunting" or encounter.

But if the poster already has a pre-dispositioned opinion that they have a demon in their home, one can't make that person think analytically or rationally about the situation.

Answer 10

That someone may need help is ignored by many believers.In fact just the suggestion can lead to violations and insulting e-mails.I speak from experience.I've often seen people doing more harm then good.Especially with obviously troubled young folks.It's very disturbing to me.

Personally I've suggested going to someone,not looking on the Internet.