[Squaresquirrel]

So I was born into a Christian family and was a christian till I was about 14 when I became athiest. However at 17 I had what I believe to be a religious experience. I heard "god" talking to me although it wasn't god in the traditional sense, It was more a collection of spirits that operated similarly to a hive mind (I could spend hours explaining it but I'm trying to stay simple). Anyway I was seeing a doctor for depression at that point and she put me on anti-psychotics however these didn't remove the voices so I continued to believe it was god, however now 4 years on I'm diagnosed as schizoaffective and I'm on a much stronger anti-psychotic and the voices have disappeared, this is really making me doubt my faith in god, and Im not to sure what to believe anymore any advice from anyone?

[Lazuliblue]

(Original post by Squaresquirrel)
So I was born into a Christian family and was a christian till I was about 14 when I became athiest. However at 17 I had what I believe to be a religious experience. I heard "god" talking to me although it wasn't god in the traditional sense, It was more a collection of spirits that operated similarly to a hive mind (I could spend hours explaining it but I'm trying to stay simple). Anyway I was seeing a doctor for depression at that point and she put me on anti-psychotics however these didn't remove the voices so I continued to believe it was god, however now 4 years on I'm diagnosed as schizoaffective and I'm on a much stronger anti-psychotic and the voices have disappeared, this is really making me doubt my faith in god, and Im not to sure what to believe anymore any advice from anyone?

Is it possible that seeing as how the voices have disappeared not your on meds, that they came from your brain rather than God? If that is the case, it doesn't mean you have to doubt God, it just means that you weren't well, and now hopefully you're on the road to recovery. I don't quite understand why it has made you doubt God though, could you elaborate further?

[Squaresquirrel]

(Original post by Lazuliblue)
Is it possible that seeing as how the voices have disappeared not your on meds, that they came from your brain rather than God? If that is the case, it doesn't mean you have to doubt God, it just means that you weren't well, and now hopefully you're on the road to recovery. I don't quite understand why it has made you doubt God though, could you elaborate further?

It's because I don't believe in a specific god so there aren't really any other sources to bolster my faith e.g. some people rely on the bible, but tbh I can't make myself believe a word of the bible. All my faith came from the voices I heard and talked to and now they are gone I'm not sure whether it came from my own brain or not - or maybe it was just God's way of talking to me anyway, perhaps?? I don't know tbh - It's all very confusing

[The_Lonely_Goatherd]

(Original post by Squaresquirrel)
So I was born into a Christian family and was a christian till I was about 14 when I became athiest. However at 17 I had what I believe to be a religious experience. I heard "god" talking to me although it wasn't god in the traditional sense, It was more a collection of spirits that operated similarly to a hive mind (I could spend hours explaining it but I'm trying to stay simple). Anyway I was seeing a doctor for depression at that point and she put me on anti-psychotics however these didn't remove the voices so I continued to believe it was god, however now 4 years on I'm diagnosed as schizoaffective and I'm on a much stronger anti-psychotic and the voices have disappeared, this is really making me doubt my faith in god, and Im not to sure what to believe anymore any advice from anyone?

Hey there!

I can't entirely relate to what you've posted (not sure what you mean by a hive mind? Though I guess Google could be my friend in that respect ) but you know I'm a fellow schizoaffective and you might have read some of my posts about hearing religious voices. It's really really hard to differentiate sometimes between a schizoaffective voice and hearing God, or something that is outside of yourself but equally not a schizoaffective voice.

Feel free to PM me if you like. Promise not to try and convert you

[Squaresquirrel]

(Original post by The_Lonely_Goatherd)
Hey there!

I can't entirely relate to what you've posted (not sure what you mean by a hive mind? Though I guess Google could be my friend in that respect ) but you know I'm a fellow schizoaffective and you might have read some of my posts about hearing religious voices. It's really really hard to differentiate sometimes between a schizoaffective voice and hearing God, or something that is outside of yourself but equally not a schizoaffective voice.

Feel free to PM me if you like. Promise not to try and convert you

Yay for schizoaffectiveness! Or not as the case may be haha. Can't thank you enough for showing me its possible to be theistic and schizoaffective at the same time. Really inspiring I think I'm kinda over my crisis now - came to the realization that the two aren't mutually exclusive, just have to work hard on seperating the schizoaffective voices from the real ones

[Rybee]

God doesn't exist. /Thread.

Hope that help cleans it up xxx

[The_Lonely_Goatherd]

(Original post by Squaresquirrel)
Yay for schizoaffectiveness! Or not as the case may be haha. Can't thank you enough for showing me its possible to be theistic and schizoaffective at the same time. Really inspiring I think I'm kinda over my crisis now - came to the realization that the two aren't mutually exclusive, just have to work hard on seperating the schizoaffective voices from the real ones

Haha, dw, I know what you mean. We're a rare, "special" bunch, aren't we? That's OK hun, anytime you wanna talk about it you just PM me or resurrect this thread. Glad the crisis is over.

I don't know what denomination you are but in Catholicism, there is such a thing called discernment of the spirits. It discusses in some depth how to separate good thoughts/voices/inclinations from bad ones and how to tell whether something is coming from God, coming from yourself, or coming from elsewhere, e.g. repressed childhood memories, darker forces, etc. Here is a link, if you're interested in finding out more: http://www.ignatianspirituality.com/...nt-of-spirits/

On a more practical level, you may like to talk to your minister/pastor/priest/reverend about what you are experiencing, as well as any understanding mental health workers

[Tabzqt]

I'm truly sorry, and I am sorry for your disorder, but this thread amuses me. Turns out a lot of religious experiences are actually the result of mental disorders? Who would have thought??

[Pinkhead]

(Original post by Tabzqt)
I'm truly sorry, and I am sorry for your disorder, but this thread amuses me. Turns out a lot of religious experiences are actually the result of mental disorders? Who would have thought??

How did you infer that from one person's story?

[Squaresquirrel]

(Original post by Rybee)
God doesn't exist. /Thread.

Hope that help cleans it up xxx

To be fair it's impossible to prove either way so people can only go on their own experiences.

[Squaresquirrel]

(Original post by The_Lonely_Goatherd)
Haha, dw, I know what you mean. We're a rare, "special" bunch, aren't we? That's OK hun, anytime you wanna talk about it you just PM me or resurrect this thread. Glad the crisis is over.

I don't know what denomination you are but in Catholicism, there is such a thing called discernment of the spirits. It discusses in some depth how to separate good thoughts/voices/inclinations from bad ones and how to tell whether something is coming from God, coming from yourself, or coming from elsewhere, e.g. repressed childhood memories, darker forces, etc. Here is a link, if you're interested in finding out more: http://www.ignatianspirituality.com/...nt-of-spirits/

On a more practical level, you may like to talk to your minister/pastor/priest/reverend about what you are experiencing, as well as any understanding mental health workers

Thanks for the advice, I'm not really any denomination but that doesn't mean I can't learn from them I'll definately be checking out that link :P

[The_Lonely_Goatherd]

(Original post by Squaresquirrel)
Thanks for the advice, I'm not really any denomination but that doesn't mean I can't learn from them I'll definately be checking out that link :P

No worries hun - always happy to help