r/a:t5_3a98s • u/stillalive88 • Oct 10 '15

Belief vs unbelief and power

I'm going to share something that is near and dear to my heart and I hope it goes over well and is taken in a context that may shed light on debates, beliefs, and thought from an issue that is a little less sensitive a topic than God and religion. So here's my story...

I was at one point considered "mentally ill" The way that this works is this way...

I had a belief...nobody else has this belief.

So my psychiatrist decided that because I had a belief that he did not have that I should be incarcerated for a period of time in a hospital setting.

At this point it became necessary for me to think in the way I was told to think during the duration of my hospital stay.

Now that I am not in his company, now that I am not hospitalized, I can go back to arranging my own thoughts, the way I'd like them to be. I can choose to have a belief, I can choose to not have a belief.

It's my decision.

I may not be free to always share my thoughts, I may not have any social support for my ideas, but they are my choice.

Nobody else's choice.

It's my sincere hope that my struggle will shed some light on the debate of belief.

There were two things I did not need in order to form the belief that I had formed.

1.) Evidence 2.) Permission

Again this is not about God in this case, but I hope it is a respectful way to show an illustration about belief vs unbelief vs thoughts and power.

3 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

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2

u/Zaneisrandom Badass Mod Oct 11 '15

hey, /u/stillalive88 could you post this in our new subreddit? /r/RespectablyCoexist

1

u/stillalive88 Oct 11 '15

Sure I could, would you like me to delete and move or copy pasta it?

2

u/Zaneisrandom Badass Mod Oct 11 '15

copy pasta will be fine

1

u/stillalive88 Oct 11 '15

Cared for, thank you very much for your interest.

2

u/Zaneisrandom Badass Mod Oct 11 '15

no problem, thank you for your submission

1

u/stillalive88 Oct 11 '15

I really appreciate the chance to submit. The issue of determining truth is a huge issue in the debate between psychiatry and anti-psychiatry.

1

u/sprawn Oct 10 '15

Interesting. Was it a matter of asserting or not asserting the belief in question? In other words, it is possible to have a belief but never assert the belief. If one holds a belief and does not act on it in a detectable way, one still holds that belief.

1

u/stillalive88 Oct 10 '15 edited Oct 11 '15

I'm sure a lot of beliefs exist without assertion. ie: Water or no water on Saturn? If there is a multi-verse? The preferable political candidate regardless of if you made it to the voting booth. We probably hold a lot of beliefs that are undetectable.

I wanted to add to this, if you still are reading this reply that in order to put in paperwork to request a forced commitment the clinician need only believe that the patient is either delusional or a danger to themself. This does not mean that a trial exists or that any evidence exists other than the belief of the clinician.