When I was in hospital my wife received many offers for help, but without doubt the strangest offer was one of exorcism – believe it or not. A (Christian) friend of ours had heard my story, and had offered to exorcise the demons right out of me.

This person was highly intelligent and really had a heart of gold, so when I found out some years later he had said this it really surprised me.

It saddens me that people still think mental illness can be cured by exorcism. That puts us right back in the Middle Ages. On top of that a quick Google search shows that exorcism is still very much alive in the 21st century.

I can only imagine what kind of damage this does to a person with a mental illness. First someone tells you you are possessed, and then (eventually) comes to the conclusion that you can’t be ’saved’ after all, and that maybe it’s all your fault anyway. Ouch!

Pigs, we need more pigs
If exorcism of “mental illness” would work we’re going to need pigs, and lots of ‘em (Matthew 8:28-34, Mark 5:1-20, and Luke 8:26-39).

Excerpts from the gospel according to Mark:

They [Jesus and the disciples] went across the lake to the region of Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from from the tombs to meet him.”

A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out [of the possessed man] and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

So that’s roughly 2000 pigs per person (or 1000 pigs if you prefer the Matthew version where there were two possessed men). That’s a *lot* of wasted bacon.

Conclusion
Life’s not just about where you are going, but also who you are going with. If you find yourself surrounded with people that are not helping, know that you can always walk away. You always have that choice.

The last thing you need when you have a mental illness is people telling you you are possessed and that it’s somehow your fault. It’s not your fault; these things happen to the best of us (and quite a lot too).

Oink, oink!

Somebody was asking for help. So I relayed some advice, the title of a relevant book and provided details of someone who could help that person further.

The response was something along the lines of “Thanks, but I’ll just keep praying and then God will take care of it”.

Zoinks!

A day or two later I remembered this story:
(Various versions of it are floating around on the Internet, but this is roughly how I remember it)

There is a flood and the police are evacuating everybody. They see this guy, waist deep in the water, in his house and say “Come with us and you’ll be safe”. The guy replies “Don’t worry, God will save me”. The water has now risen even further and the guy is forced to climb on the roof. A man in a boat is floating by and says “Come with me and you’ll be safe”. The guy replies “Don’t worry, God will save me”. The water rises even further and the guy is now holding on to the chimney for dear life. A helicopter, with a ladder, flies by and the pilot shouts “Come with me and you’ll be safe”. The guy replies “Don’t worry, God will save me”. So 10 minutes later he drowns and ends up in front of God. “Why didn’t you save me?” he asks God. God then replied “What do you mean? I send the police, a boat and a helicopter! What more did you expect?”

I guess the point is that we’re ultimately all responsible for our own life, and shouldn’t (blindly) live on faith alone!