Not sure how I stumbled across this but in China where religion is mostly banned and Japan where Christianity is virtually non-existent have the least incidences of religious delusions and hallucinations in their schizophrenic populations.
Why do you think that is?
I would think that if God was really speaking to everyone that schizophrenics who are hearing him for the first time would be stating they have religious hallucinations.
I bring this up cause I never heard “God’s” voice until I hit around 30. I have stated to my docs I have these religious orriented hallucinations and delusions.
It doesn’t make any sense to me that in China and Japan the rate of religious hallucinations and delusions would be so much lower than in Christian nations if the hallucinations were real.
It’s because the hallucinations are shaped by our own cultures and experiences. It isn’t the voice of God speaking to you. It’s an excess of dopamine combined with a religious upbringing causing you to think you hear the voice of God. In countries with a lower stress on the importance of the individual, there are also fewer delusions about being spied on/followed. The brain is a fascinating thing!
This is just a thought, but the Christian religion, in some denominations anyway, is very strict, demanding, and has a lot of do, don’t, threats and fear. Even delusions of grandeur where people believe they are god or jesus could be a coping mechanism against the fear of the negative aspects of christianity. Maybe where there is less fear of god and less fear of the consequences of sin, there is less reason for religious delusions. Buddhism (and I’m not saying anything for or against any choice of religion) seems to have less of the negative aspects and more positive thought, it seems to be a religion of hope and peace rather than control, so that could be a reason. As I said, just my own theory, I’m not meaning to criticise anyone for their religious beliefs.
You may have answered your own question right there. Without emphasizing religions as much as in the U.S. or other countries, the fodder for religious delusions is taken away so they “switch” to other delusions. Without the distraction of religion or of it being forced into their face by 90 different religions like in the U.S. maybe it is just not on their radar.
Like they don’t have football in Japan so no one has delusions about football. Pizza is not as popular as it is in the U.S so no one in China or Japan have pizza delusions. I’m being a little silly with my examples but I think you get my drift.
Delusions are based off of someone’s culture and beliefs. If you have a country of people who are not religious you are not going to see religious delusions.
There two trees outside of my house, one as no life, the other is lush and green and nice. As one follows the lifeless dead one up from the ground with one’s eyes you can see it forms a face, some would call it a demonic face, gnostics would have called it demiurge or something.
As one follows the tree full of life up from it’s roots one may notice the face of a bearded man carefully crafted of matter, shadow, and light. His face is calming, wise, non harmful.
All of my delusions come from forced communications in my mind in various ways, with the aliens and faeries appearing among others i became aware that there were mysteries to be known. They spoke of apports and weather control, i’ve seen omens, spirits and gods, proof of creation, proof of other living beings, etc…
I have never been a part of any religion or belief system, they did try though in my youth but i just sat that dreaming about bikes and food the whole time.
All of my problems came from actual visits and communications and the endless maze of madness and questions once i knew there were answers and mysteries.
china is the easy one ban religion and you wont have religious delusions… japan is what Shinto and Buddhist mostly…dont see why they wouldn’t have delusions from either religion… maybe they just don’t have western religious delusions… ah they have more delusions on shame and slander… so cultural differences would be the answer…
I agree with what everyone else has said. Your delusions center around popular culture and beliefs that you have been exposed to. I am reading a book called “suspicious minds-how culture shapes madness” that discusses this very issue. It is about psychotic illness, specifically schizophrenia. They give examples of delusions historically and they always center around the culture and beliefs of the time.
I have delusional disorder. I sincerely believe I am the subject of a brain study. I have equipment in my brain and body along with a camera in my eye and microphones in my ears. Scientists can control and monitor me remotely. They can speak to my subconscious and control my thoughts, feelings and behavior along with monitoring my brain and body activity. It is bizarre and far reaching. If I had been born 100 years ago, I would probably have a delusion centered around a theme that made more sense at the time. Like the book says "culture shapes madness’
The thing is though the subconscious mind is very powerful. There is a lot of stuff we’ve subconsciously stored throughout our lives through our interactions that impact especially us with this illness.
I say about myself. I am basically atheist but after suffering from schizophrenia delusion remain atheist and visual haulicinations are tends to religious myths. So I converted to religious man.
I grew up in a religious family and never had religious delusions. My delusions all involved sex and violence the two things which are most important to a teenage boy. And in hindsight those delusions were stressful, extremely torturous and perverse. I wouldn’t wish that hell on anyone.
I think your on to something here. I often wondered if I was in a different country hearing people speak a different language if the ideas of reference would have even happened. Same with TV. In Mexico I know when people loose it they usually have delusions about witches and sorcerers.
It’s amazing how the mind works and this is a very interesting thing. It would be interesting just what delusions are experienced…are they more about your family? work? Curious and curiouser.
I am in Japan. It seems to me that the Japanese other in mind looks rather than listens, and that the Japanese associate with their faces (hence the importance of face, shame, embarrassment, manga, anime and all things animate). There is a lot of related Japanese symptomatology, such as gaze phobia, facial paralysis, pathological blushing, pathological sweating, and social phobia. There are also many, popular non-verbal, visual therapies, such as sand box, movement therapy, introspective therapy (originating in a form of Buddhist praxis), Morita therapy (originating in Zen) and Japanese bred collage and photographic therapies.All these may show a connection between Japanese religion and psychopathology but not specifically with Schizophrenia. In the latter, there is a lot of social skills treatment and assessment of non verbal skills e.g. the “The Noh Mask Test: Social skills test”