Jesus or Delusion

[Frostbit]

This is an interesting case to read. I wasn't sure where to put it on the forum so if a mod wants to move it that's fine. Read the whole article but this guy heard voices - initially Lucifer and made some self harming choices. He was started on meds and stabilized well.

Then some changes in his life, and as is the case with many mentally ill he went off his meds. Now he hears Jesus telling him to repent. To the family it's the same as hearing Lucifer....it's voices in his head starting to control him.

The Alaska Supreme Court chose to vacate a mental commitment for the man who heard Jesus.

[Celeste Chalfonte]

This is an interesting case to read. I wasn't sure where to put it on the forum so if a mod wants to move it that's fine. Read the whole article but this guy heard voices - initially Lucifer and made some self harming choices. He was started on meds and stabilized well.

Then some changes in his life, and as is the case with many mentally ill he went off his meds. Now he hears Jesus telling him to repent. To the family it's the same as hearing Lucifer....it's voices in his head starting to control him.

The Alaska Supreme Court chose to vacate a mental commitment for the man who heard Jesus.

Let's hope that "Jesus" doesn't tell him his kids are possessed by the devil and require exorcism.

There are benign delusions and then there are those not so benign. I had a client who believed God relieved his back pain by sending him messages through an earbud that wasn't connected to anything, just stuck in his back pocket. Mostly benign (except he tried to share the healing with the prisoners at the jail where he worked, but we managed to negotiate a resolution of that problem).

This man has has a history of reacting with potentially deadly consequences to his delusions. He refuses medication because he LIKES his delusions. I hope he doesn't turn his dangerous tendencies outward the next time. On those justices' heads be the consequences.

[phillygirl]

Definitely a difficult case. If the current "delusions" are not presently harmful to the party or others, what steps can and should the government take to fend off a potential future consequence. I don't envy the choice any of the judges in this case had to make.

[Bob Loblaw 3.0]

This is an interesting case to read. I wasn't sure where to put it on the forum so if a mod wants to move it that's fine. Read the whole article but this guy heard voices - initially Lucifer and made some self harming choices. He was started on meds and stabilized well.

Then some changes in his life, and as is the case with many mentally ill he went off his meds. Now he hears Jesus telling him to repent. To the family it's the same as hearing Lucifer....it's voices in his head starting to control him.

The Alaska Supreme Court chose to vacate a mental commitment for the man who heard Jesus.

Sounds like he needs to stay on his meds. If he were really hearing Jesus' voice, there are a lot of specific things he'd be doing as proof of it (which I didn't see cited in the article) - and none of them would be "creeping other people out".

[Adam]

Tough call. I would typically tend toward the side of religious liberty, i.e. that he's not presently expressing anything particularly dangerous (such as "kill the children as a sacrifice for penance" or something like that) . However, his history cannot be ignored, at least not to me. He has at least tried to harm himself before, if not others. I don't see how the state can ignore this without exposing themselves to a huge amount of risk should he sail completely off the rails.

They seem to focus upon the adverse future effects of a present commitment, to include gun ownership, but since he's already been involuntarily committed in the past, it would seem to me that horse has already left the barn.



If Jesus is truly speaking to him, then I don't think Jesus will let some anti-psychotic drugs get in the way.

[Frostbit]

Tough call. I would typically tend toward the side of religious liberty, i.e. that he's not presently expressing anything particularly dangerous (such as "kill the children as a sacrifice for penance" or something like that) . However, his history cannot be ignored, at least not to me. He has at least tried to harm himself before, if not others. I don't see how the state can ignore this without exposing themselves to a huge amount of risk should he sail completely off the rails.

They seem to focus upon the adverse future effects of a present commitment, to include gun ownership, but since he's already been involuntarily committed in the past, it would seem to me that horse has already left the barn.



If Jesus is truly speaking to him, then I don't think Jesus will let some anti-psychotic drugs get in the way.

Good point!!

I read this article and the courts ruling and I wonder, after he and five hi-cap magazines, an AR, and his notebook he thinks is his Bible, make the rounds in a local school how much of the media debate will be about gun control and how much will be about mental health issues.