Biblical Approach to Non-Organic Illnesses

   

 

   

    What are non-organic illnesses? In general they are illnesses which do not have an organic base. Emotional issues like fear, anxiety, guilt, bitterness, anger, stress, resentment and depression to a certain extent and all these will not have an organic base initially. In fact, they are God’s beautiful way of showing something is wrong in our system especially in our thought processing and this need attention. It is important that one needs attention to our emotions and deals with it before going into a downward spiral and eventually getting into medical issues….. Below are some writings and references to support the above statements and for the readers to think what does it really mean by ‘non-organic illnesses’. 

    I believe Elizabeth has developed an interestingly, and refreshingly, different view of the approach to treatment of those suffering from depression and other personality disorders. I believe Christian counselling is able to incorporate a more wholistic view to the treatment of a person's bouts of depression by referencing the Supreme Counsellor and Maker of our souls. We know from medical studies, that the mind can also affect the health of the body. But the health of the body can also affect the state of the soul. One prime example is the use of the drug Prozac to treat depression. Its misuse can lead to suicidal tendencies if not administered wisely and with close observation. The whole answer, as Dr. Elizabeth suggests, is the total Counsel of God. A Biblical counsellor, like a pulpit minister, has the opportunity to reveal that Counsellor to the patient and restore a wholesome soul encased in a wholesome body. - Dr. Jerry L. Ogles, DD - Presiding Bishop, Anglican Orthodox Church.

What is meant by "Non-Organic Mental Illness"? - by Malcolm Bowden

     One of the most frequent criticisms made about the book "Breakdowns are good for you" (BAGFY) is the unacceptability that all "mental illnesses" are due to behavioural problems and are not a medical condition. It is generally felt that there must be some cases where a medical condition exists in order to explain a person's strange behaviour.

    This aspect was considered in BAGFY but it seems that further clarification is called for - hence this paper. I will first examine the various categories that mental illnesses are usually classified under, and then describe precisely what we mean by "non-organic mental illness".

THE VARIOUS FORMS OF "MENTAL ILLNESS"

A. MEDICAL/ORGANIC CONDITIONS

(1) Brain Damage

This can easily be seen in those who have been involved in an accident that has physically damaged part of their brain. They may be unable to speak, move or think properly, from mild to severe cases.

(2) Strokes and birth problems.

The brain has been deprived of blood for a period such that in one or more sections the cells have died. In general, if the area is large, the cells do not usually replicate fully, and that part of the brain is effectively dead. However, such is the flexibility of the brain that other sections can be retrained to take over some or many of the functions that were performed by the dead section.

(3) Congenital maladies
The person is born with a brain that is malfunctioning. The most obvious example is that of Downe's syndrome babies, but spastics and other cases are well catalogued.
(4) Drug effects
There is no doubt that the brain is affected by drugs
(i) those prescribed by doctors which we will call medical drugs, and
(ii) those taken for "pleasure"; the illegal drugs such as heroin etc.

      ALL those cases that can be cured by counselling alone are clearly non-medical and non-organic. It is essential to keep these two separate groups apart. Ultimately, the medical profession CANNOT deal MEDICALLY with problems that are due to antisocial behavior, as the vast majority of cases that come for counselling require. Many involve marital and social breakdowns, and where is the medical or organic component of that? For those who still claim they do have a "medical" condition, are they accepting it and dealing with it in a mature Christian way - or using it to excuse their behavior?   M.Bowden, 9 September 2003.

    The cases we would consider to be non-organic range from tension (which we all experience), mild anxiety through depression and the "final" (and most challenging) example being schizophrenia.

Other Website References: Search Results

1. Psychosocial factors in chronic disability -- clinmed/2001010003v1 ...

intl-clinmed.netprints.org/cgi/content/full/2001010003v1

You +1'd by JMS Pearce - 2001 - Cited by 14 - Related articles
5 Mar 2001 – 2. anomalous behaviour during examination: 'inappropriate or ... A diagnosis of non-organic illness carries the strong implication of a finite .

2. Non-organic symptom reporting in patients with chronic non ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9121822

You +1'd thby DS Ciccone - 1996 - Cited by 52 - Related articles
According to the somatization hypothesis, non-organic reporting occurs when ... any of these tests could account for individual differences in illness behavior.

3. Cervical nonorganic signs: a new clinical tool to assess abnormal ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10668770Similar

You +1'd this by JB Sobel - 2000 - Cited by 44 - Related articles
Cervical nonorganic signs: a new clinical tool to assess abnormal illness behavior in neck pain patients: a pilot study. Sobel JB, Sollenberger P, Robinson R,...

4. non-organic 'mental illnesses'

homepage.ntlworld.com/malcolmbowden/mentalclass.htmCached

You +1'dWhat is meant by "Non-Organic Mental Illness"? ... there must be some cases where a medical condition exists in order to explain a person's strange behaviour.

5. NEXT BIBLICAL COUNSELLING PAGE - What we mean by

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6. Abnormal Illness Behaviour and Anxiety in Acute Non-Organic ...

bjp.rcpsych.org/content/149/1/57.full.pdf

You +1'd this publiclyby PR Joyce - 1986 - Cited by 23 - Related articles
form of abnormal illness behaviour were the likely psychiatric reasons for admission to hospital with acute abdominal pain when no organic pathology was found ...

7. Abnormal illness behaviour and anxiety in acute non-organic ...

bjp.rcpsych.org/content/149/1/57

You +1'd thby PR Joyce - 1986 - Cited by 23 - Related articles
These 'non-organic' patients were almost all female and differed from the 'organic' patients in state anxiety and in the illness behaviour questionnaire scales of ...

8. Non-organic (primary) mental disorders

psychology-forum.com › Psychology › Mental Health ForumCached - Similar

You +1'd this publi1 post - 1 author - 2 Dec 2009

Non-organic (primary) mental disorders. ... especially in relation to mental disorders which involve mental, behavioral, and somatic products ...