GENERAL
Gene and I have come to believe that a lot of
delinquency is the result of homes out of divine
order. Neglect or hate for the children and abuse of
children hardens their hearts and leaves a child
unable to enter society and fulfill his divine
purpose.
When people are hurt
and do not completely forgive, they let Satan's demons
minister to them, and build a demonic personality in
their mind and body. This personality is not normal
and it usually is not pleasant.
It is healing to the
body and mind to completely forgive - holding nothing
back. When you have nothing against others, the next
step is to forgive yourself completely.
Then with obedience
to the Biblical principles, you can build a healthy
mind. It will not be easy but it will be the most
exciting thing you will ever do. One common ingredient
in all delinquent personalities is the almost total
lack of Godly principles.
What is the root
cause of most personality problems? In the people we
have worked with, it has originated with a very
serious rejection. The ultimate rejection is the
murder of the unborn. An attempted abortion which
failed or at nine months of the parents wishing you
would die before or at birth. You may think these
things do not effect people but they do. As a result
of not being wanted, a person will spend a life time
trying every means he can think of to get people to
accept him. If he cannot get a feeling of acceptance,
he will become increasingly more removed from
normalcy. Becoming more bitter, he will eventually
rebel against all authority.
Children, who are
betrayed through abuse, can hardly trust anyone - even
God. They cannot comprehend true love, therefore they
cannot accept nor comprehend the love of Jesus. Cannot
understand abiding help, therefore they cannot
understand the work of the Holy Spirit. God does not
promise a life without pain or loss but He shows us
how to respond to all parts of our life. Read Hebrews
12 and don't neglect to read the last half.
Most crimes against
people and property are committed by people suffering
from manias. Theft, arson, rape, assault, murder are
some of the acts that neurotics commit. Some crimes
are committed by retarded people.
Professional
criminals usually have rejected all or part of social
ethics. These are usually burglars, robbers,
confidence men, racketeers, gangsters and killers.
Sometimes they desire to be caught and punished
because this relieves repressed guilt feelings. Those
criminals who feel no guilt or remorse over their acts
are psychopathic personalities and will be discussed
later.
Today we'll study
psychotic behavior. As you will see in many cases, the
same problem exists as in neuroses but to a greater
degree.
In society,
consistent, serious and inappropriate disobedience of
the written and unwritten laws is considered a sign of
abnormal behavior. II Tim. 3:1-5 lists abnormal
behavior from God's point of view.
ORGANIC
PSYCHOSIS
There are many causes of organic psychosis: inborn
brain defects, brain infections, intoxication, head
injuries, circulation disorders, seizures, bodily
changes of growth and aging, tumors or cancers, and
unknown physical causes. Each of these conditions can
alter behavior so severely that it appears irrational
and prevents adjustments. God can heal any of these
disorders.
General Paresis is
due to syphilitic damage to the brain; it causes
indifference to neatness, punctuality and normal
interests. Person becomes irritable or overly
sentimental. Efficiency, memory, energy and intellect
declines. Speech becomes slurred. If not treated,
degeneration ends in death.
Alcoholic and Drug
Reactions - Alcohol and drugs are used to relieve
anxiety and guilt feelings, and to suppress hurtful
emotions. Alcohol and drugs relieve the tensions by
depressing the nervous system starting in the brain;
behavior is regressive. The more drugs or drinks
taken, the more immature the person becomes.
Alcohol and drugs do
nothing to solve problems. At the drunken stage, he is
psychotic. Without salvation and deliverance, the
alcoholic has little hope of cure. His descent is
continually downward until death takes him.
PSYCHOTIC
BEHAVIOR
Psychotic behavior may be thought of as a
last ditch effort of the mind to deal with the anxiety
aroused by emotion or mental (psychic) shocks. A
psychotic can not deal with anxiety and his symptoms
serve to help him escape the shock.
If a person accepts
this behavioral pattern, finds comfort in it and has
no desire to change somewhere along the way, a demon
can come in. Then he feels he can not change and
usually will not cooperate with those who would help.
Psychotic depression
is expressed three ways: emotionally, physically and
intellectually.
Emotionally - A
severely depressed person feels overwhelmingly sad,
hopeless, worthless and helpless. They also have fears
of catastrophe, complete discouragement and will give
up in the face of problems. Physically - They may
claim physical problems they don't really have
(hypochondriac). Intellectually - They will try to
make it look like they are unable to learn. They will
choose to live on a level below their abilities.
In middle age people
are sometimes shocked by the realization that they are
mortal, have less energy and sometimes illness. They
have regrets for past failures and a wasted life with
fear of future and death. As a boy or girl
disappointed in love sometimes seems to enjoy the
misery, so do these people. Sometimes this ends in
suicide.
Manic depressive has
alternating episodes of great depression, anger or
great elation. Sometimes only one symptom is present
or they may vacillate between symptoms.
Psychotic mania - an
extremely outgoing person, talks excessively and
loudly, laughs, shouts, mind flits from thing to
thing, ignores chaste moral conduct, may be sexually
promiscuous and is a rebel.
Schizophrenia - a
split mind (James 1:4-6). This person has periods of
inconsistency and is undependable, ignores reality and
reacts largely to their hallucinations. Thinks only
their ideas are the right ones. They are often
apathetic (loose interest in living). They deny
reality, disregarding the reality they see. Their
emotions are withdrawn from reality into fantasy and
they do not care to relate or communicate with friends
or family. Talks only of his fantasies. Schizophrenia
sometimes is helped along by this common trait of
people. We tend, especially when young, to ignore the
truly important things and expend great energy on
unimportant things.
Many become
prostitutes, druggers or boozers, bums, delinquents,
wanderers and thieves. They are indifferent to pain or
the pain they cause and blame others for all
shortcomings.
Acute Schizophrenia
Panic - sudden panic, non-stopping resulting in
nervous breakdown.
Catatonic
Schizophrenia - hostile to society and selves. It is
shown two ways: total withdrawal, sitting in stupor or
excessive aggression. In catatonic state, the person
is keenly observing everything. If a catatonic shifts
to extreme excited stage, the underlying hostility may
force him to kill. Sometimes at this time they have
superhuman (demonic) strength.
Hebephrenic
Schizophrenia - a youthful mind. Often seen in people
trying to take back baby or childish ways. Symptoms
are silliness, disassociated emotions, peculiar
delusions, hallucinations, making meaningless grimaces
or gestures and inability to communicate. This
behavior reflects a complete break with human concepts
of conduct and substitution of a fantasy reality.
Paranoid
Schizophrenic has also disordered emotions and
thinking with delusions of persecutions or grandeur.
His delusions help him hide the source of the problem
and deny any responsibility for failure. When
competition threatens, delusions of persecution are
used to deny failure or frustration.
Paranoia's grow out
of childish adjustments to unpleasant reality. He will
apply intelligence and energy to perfecting a
hypothesis that is factually false but emotionally
true. He is unwilling to test his emotionally true
conclusion objectively or look at it logically.
Paranoiacs often strive excessively for success or
leadership and suffer greatly mentally if they fail.
Tranquilizing drugs
- many times we are working with a schizophrenic
person and the demon will give his name. It will be
the name of one of the tranquilizing drugs. The demons
claim to let the person appear relieved of some
symptoms as long as they get the drug.