Replies to '01/05 "Am I Cursed?"'

Quote From: stuffedcat

     I don't believe in curses or possession, personally, I believe in psychology and the mind's flukes. Granted, I do recognize that sometimes unexplainable things happen and I -am- open to understanding that religion -can- be correct but we can't really know for sure. For now I rely on more earthly reasoning for what goes on. Now that I got that disclaimer down I'll get to the point:
   I have problems believing in curses and possession - possession especially - because of what I think a false belief in it can do. I spoke to a friend of mine about some problems I myself have (my family has a history of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and major depression and I have reoccurring 'problems' that could be categorized under any of those) and he understood and said that he has some of the more violent problems, but that he believed it to be caused by demons. Now, I understand that him and his family are all very heavily religious, but we have also talked about his childhood which included abuse, abandonment by his father, and the need for him to pick up parenthood for his two little sisters. When I pointed out that he obviously didn't have an easy childhood (I had realized that he had some depression problems by this point and I spoke to him unheedingly, thinking he'd understand because at the time he had been looking into psychology) he refused to talk about it and said that the Christian thing to do was to forgive and forget. Unfortunately, it seems that all he's tried to do is forget, and I know first-hand what suppression of something terrible can do to someone. Now he's plagued with depression, terrible nightmares, and on occasion he even 'sees' things (but mostly when he's just coming out of a nightmare). I tried to suggest multiple times that he see a psychiatrist but he won't because of the religious answer he's deemed his lifesaver. Granted, this hasn't helped him at all, and I worry about how the degenerative aspects of certain mental illnesses will effect him in the future.


Him and I don't speak anymore because when he gets depressed he becomes manipulative and lashes out at people close to him and anyone close to the person he's targeting.

I would really appreciate knowing if anyone with an objective view can enlighten me on this. Psychologically speaking, what could his problem be? Any insights would be wonderful, thanks.