Religon or the paranormal seem to draw people not only on the fringe but possibly the mentally ill. It is easy to see the effects of this on etremely religous people(like the woman cutting her daughters arms off). I would believe on the other etreme, people who believe anything paranormal(like the ufo cult that committed sucide when the comet came by), could also have mental health issuse. Thoughts and comments. I am a what I would call a hopeful sceptic.

the reason religion and the paranormal attract people with mental illnesses is that in alot of mental illnesses a part of the brain called the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is underactive, which is involved in changing and maintaining beliefs, so they like to believe in certain things for no reason. not everybody who believes in the paranormal has a mental illness. the only mental illness that i have is obsessive-compulsive disorder, which is caused partly by genes. the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is more active than normal in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Are you a doctor??

no

Don't misunderstand, I do not think all people who believe in the paranormal are mentally ill. I think that overall the rates would be higher in people who overly believe in the paranormal or religion.

That is extremely interesting. I didn't know that obsessive-compulsive disorder was caused in part by genes. And is it considered a mental illness instead of a personality disorder? I can see where it is handed down in families...interesting.

I think I've read about the paranormal moving into the mental illness realm with the act of 'possession'. The controversy, possession versus mental illness... makes some people believe that the extreme paranormal experience can bring on mental illness.

there is an obsessive-compulsive disorder and an obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. obsessive-compulsive disorder is considered a mental illness.



i think that posession is possible, but i think alot of "posessions" are just caused by mental illnesses.

Oh, yes I remember that now. What is the difference between o/c disorder and o/c personality disorder? You say yours is in part in the genes....what about the personality disorder...is that in the genes too?

Possession and mental illness could go both ways, I guess. They say that they think many mentally ill people in institutions may 'just be possessed'.

the personality disorder is caused by underactive orbital prefrontal cortices, especially on the right side. people with the personality disorder can't tell that they are being unreasonable and think that their way is the only "right way". they usually get mad at people who won't do things their way. they're stubborn about how to do things, perfectionistic, indecisive, socially isolated, emotionally rigid, and usually depressed because they can't meet their own standards. they usually won't get therapy for it because they think they are right and that there is nothing wrong with them.

people with obsessive-compulsive disorder have "repetitive, disturbing thoughts" called obsessions and some perform "repetitive rituals" to deal with their obsessions. some examples are a person who repetitively washes their hands because they have obsessions about cleanliness or somebody who has thoughts about hurting someone close to them.

some psychologists want to change the name of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder to "perfectionistic disorder" so people don't get them confused.

o/c personality disorder...do they know if that is in the genes too?

One is a disorder and the other is a mental illness. Did you say one is under-active and the other over-active? ...that's how I read your posts.

um...this is a very interesting conversation about o/c disorders-very interesting and I didn't know that there were two separate illnesses with very different symptoms with a similar name, but in response to the original topic I have one comment.
I think a lot of people discredit some people's claims on the paranormal by simply saying it is caused by some mental illness. I know that in my personal experience people were more quick to suggest that something was wrong with my mental state than to accept the possiblity of the experience could have actually been true.
I find it very puzzling too that most of the skeptical comments I have ever had actually came from this forum-which I ,of course, don't always disagree or agree with. I think that they come up with some very good scientific points and as I have said before, that though these things might apply to some, they don't apply to all.
Sometimes it just seems that some people don't want to accept the idea of their being an alternate reality and will go to great lengths to disprove it or discredit the person by saying that they might have a mental illness. That is just my opinion though.

yeah, they're both affected by certain genes.



obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is caused by low levels of a chemical called N-acetylapartate in a part of the brain called the basal ganglia (caused by genes) and low levels of serotonin in another part called the anterior cingulate gyrus. the basal ganglia, the anterior cingulate gyri, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortices, and the orbital prefrontal cortices are more active than normal, mostly on the right side.

in obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) the orbital prefrontal cortices are underactive and the anterior cingulate gyri are overactive and it's mostly on the right side.

Hi Nate, I too suffer OCD.
I don't think that psychic awareness and mental health go hand in hand. There's a lot of people out there who have health issues who don't believe and a lot of people who are ' sane ' who do believe.

I have PTSD; Post Traumaic Stress Disorder...since childhood until one years ago untreated but my life is much different now.
But I was still aware of certain places that gave me bad vibes. Even with treatment, I still feel the same.
The differences is even though I am afraid of a situation, I can go on with my life... which was impossible before.
At MHMR, the Counselors are absolutely great, and I have learned so much about the disability and the Stigma attached.

what are some other things you told him?



some mental illnesses actually make you more likely to develop psychic abilities, because in some a part of the brain called the angular gyrus, which is associated with some psychic abilities, is more active than usual. one mental illness that causes the angular gyrus to be more active is post-traumatic stress disorder.

I didn't know that post-traumatic stress disorder was a mental illness. Isn't that just an emotional state you get into.... after severe trauma?.... And with counseling you usually get cured of it or counseling helps control the symtoms?

That is fantastic that post-traumatic stress syndrome would bring on paranormal experiences. What else does?

Where is the documentation that mental illness can corelate with pysic abilities? I think that is wishful thinking or bs.

I didn't have OCD as a child, but I had psychic experiences back then.

Tia...interesting. When did OCD come on?

Here's an example, nate, of someone with both qualitites or abilities, but not at the same time, well at least not until now.

...what do you think?

Mental Illness and Paranormal normally come into play cause of fear. Or the extreme conditions that occur, like for example that women cutting off her babies arms for religion. Some people even believe religion a form of mental illness. Its easier for people to accept a person is mentally ill then actually having the gift, sighting or belief. For example lets say a person was attacked by a gargoyle looking creature. Would it be easier for you to believe a creature like that exsits and could come after you, OR just call that person crazy and laugh it off? Granted some people are missing some screws upstairs and are freakin crazy. With the mixed confusion its kind of like the "The Boy Who Cried Wolf". The crazy people call out UFO, 14 times in 1 week and the guy down the street sees one 3 months later for real and most people will say fake or hes just looking for attention. So what i'm saying is be careful who you believe.

I think mental illness has become alot more wide spread then it used to be. What could be the reason for that? Who knows? Persaps environmental toxins. If I heard someone saw a gargoyle, I would definetly think they were crazy, because this is the real world not a role playing game. No offense to anyone. The truth is out there but that does not mean it is paranormal.

I agree with Kratos.

as far as i know, PTSD is the only mental illness where the angular gyrus is more active than normal, but there are probably others.



here is a link to a study on PTSD:
PTSD

here is a link about the angular gyrus and psychic phenomena:
Study on OBEs

mental stress stimulates the left angular gyrus, which would explain why psychic abilities are more likely to arise when you're under mental stress.

here is a link about the angular gyrus and mental stress:
Changes in Cerebral and Myocardial Blood Flow During Mental Stress

cerebral blood flow increases when brain activity increases.



in most mental illnesses, such as depression, the angular gyrus is underactive, so there would probably be a negative correlation between mental illnesses overall and psychic abilities.



there is a disease called candidiasis that can contribute to mental illness. it's an overgrowth of yeast in your digestive tract and/or bloodstream. it can be caused by taking antibiotics which kill bacteria in your gut that normally keep the yeast, called candida, under control. in the last two to three decades, the use of antibiotics has been rising. they get prescribed alot for ear infections, when not all ear infections are bacterial. most doctors believe that only people with weakened immune systems can get it so it isn't very widely known.

before i got tested for it my gastroenterologist said that it was impossible that i could have it because my immune system is normal, but i went to my primary care physician (PCP) and she was more open-minded about it. i got tested for it and the candida M5 (an M5 is a test to see how bad an infection is) was in the highest category.

candidiasis contributes to mental illnesses because one of the main waste products of its metabolism is a chemical called acetaldehyde, which is one of the metabolites of alcohol, and is the chemical that causes most of the symptoms of a hangover. the mental symptoms of hangovers are decreased sleep, changes in sleep stages, decreased attention, decreased concentration, depression, dizziness, anxiety, irritability, and vertigio, which are also the symptoms of many mental illnesses.


nine out of ten people have some kind of mental illness.

I'm one of the 9 out of 10 then
However, I try to work on mental wellness It does seem hard at times, maybe I'm just imagining it ...
BTW my mother was psychic and mentally ill and she created Me_Again

Not to say anything mean. If you know someone who is really pshyic and can prove it, they can make a million bucks if they can scientifically prove it from the amazing Randi. This is a real challenge. Of course no person can really prove it scientifically.So until then phsyic ability is just bs. Sorry for you believers but you have no hard evidence. Your going on faith and that does not cut it.

nate..."9 out of 10 have some sort of mental illness".... isn't that a bit high?
Over-active brings on psychic abilities and under-active brings on mental illness_mental illness that wouldn't correlate with psychic powers? Is that what you are saying?

Many people have psychic experiences when they are under stress...and many people have psychic experiences when they are the opposite, completely relaxed.

I have read about Candidiasis before and that is very interesting about the mental illness angle, and the alcohol too. Can't you kill Candidasis, though, and your problems with it clear up?

anxiety lowers activity in the angular gyri and the pressure from being tested for it can cause anxiety in most people, so it would be hard to prove it scientifically. i'm going to try James Randi's challenge myself when i get older.




changing angular gyral activity can't cause mental illnesses, the mental illnesses cause the change in angular gyral activity.

yeah, you can take antifungals to kill the candida. i got treated for candidiasis and the levels of candida in my blood stream are lower now.

Mental info websites:
www.mhmr.state.tx.us/centraloffice/medicaldirector/MDDFact.pdf
Stigma & Mental Health
www.cmhawrb.on.ca/stigma.htm
Loyola University Research - Trauma
www.loyola.edu/campuslife/healthservices/counselingcenter/trauma.html
ADD, ADHD, Alzheimer's, TBI and SPECT Brain
www.brainmattersinc.com
Women's History Then & Now; A Response to Opression
www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~ulrich/femhist/madness.shtml
finally...
U.S. National Library of Medicine & National Institute of Health Medline Plus & Mental Health www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mentalhealth.html

Have a Nice Weekend
Becky

After working with so many mentally ill patients in my career, I can say that when you meet a mentally ill person you know it. I think you are trying to relate two things that are not related at all. Mentally ill is also a very broad term. As a matter of fact I always got a kick out of the way mental illness is diagnosed. Going by the standards used to diagnose, every single person would be mentally ill in some way. and just in case you don't have enough symptoms to fall under one disorder, you could always fall under: personality disorder otherwise unspecified!

..good one.

UFO's are considered the paranormal in many circles. John Keel has this to say in his book, Why UFO's?, about the subject of disturbed types being attracted to UFO's.

"If there was an actual turning point in ufology, it occured in the year 1955. That year the secret was widely and repeatedly published by many superbly qualified investigators. Many UFO students reviewed this well-documented material and quietly abandoned the subject, feeling that the mystery had been completely solved. A few held on until they were able to confirm the published evidence to their own satisfaction. Then they dropped out, leaving a vacuum in the field which was erratically filled by cultists and the emotionally disturbed types who were attracted more by the cloak-and-dagger aspects and the anarchistic possiblilities of the allegations of official censorship."

After seeing the Mothman movie (the movie that John Keel is portrayed in) my husband and I went to the Mothman festival in West Virginia. We noticed some real unusual looking people, strange 'on the fringe' types. There were normal-looking people at the festival, of course, but there was a crowd of people that was so striking it was remarkable.