Adventures in Being

BEWARE THE NEW BI-POLAR DIAGNOSTIC CRAZE
It's all the rage now in the media: The NY Times' headline declares "Bipolar Diagnoses Soaring!" "The number of American children and adolescents treated for bipolar disorder increased 40-fold from 1994 to 2003, researchers report in the most comprehensive study of the controversial diagnosis. Experts say the number has almost certainly risen further since 2003."
There is a lot of psycho-babble involved in defining "Bipolar Syndrome" but it boils down to two core problems: mood and personality swings so severe that the person appears to have a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality, and severe bouts of depression that do not respond to reason or the alleviation of the trigger event. More specific symptoms are "fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day, feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt nearly every day, diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day, recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying), recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan."
Naturally, there is a lot of cross over diagnosis with hyper-activity and extreme lack of self-control (what "professionals" are fond of euphemizing as "Attention Deficit Disorder") and even "schizophrenia" (multiple personalities).
As the NY Times said, "However, many people believe that doctors are more aggressively applying the diagnosis to children, not that the incidence of the disorder has increased. The magnitude of the increase is surprising to many psychiatrists. They say it is likely to intensify debate over the validity of the diagnosis."
I personally feel that these emotional problems are on the increase among both adults and children, but especially teens and pre-teens--but they aren't "Bi-Polar." Much of this rise in emotional problems is due in large part to society's love affair with parental permissiveness combined with weird and bizarre influences on children absorbed from television, movies and bad music. All of that is then exacerbated through a mandatory public education system where children spread these bad ideas and attitudes around to others mixed with a flood of foul language, uncontrolled behavior and speech, and sexually oriented competition for popularity. The end result (and some children are much more susceptible than others) is that children develop a lot of verbal and physical bad habits that put themselves at war with the norms of good behavior and the promptings of conscience.
I do not believe anyone has multiple personalities, but people do learn to absorb bad attitudes when they constantly swim in the cesspool of television and public education, and violate the warnings of parents and conscience. These bad attitudes can in some cases lead to external forces coming into the mind and taking over, temporarily at first, and then permanently. It is my theory that when the weird and the bizarre start happening to a child or a teenager, parents need to consider the possibility that other dark spiritual forces are beginning to have a powerful influence on their teen's week, susceptible or distorted mind. Parents may not see it till it's fully blossomed because peer-driven kids learn early on to hide much of the evil influences they are playing around with.
We may be witnessing a modern and more sophisticated version of Satanic possession, which was common in Biblical times. Why would people in our times be exempt from this kind of influence? Just because few believe in the existence of Satan anymore doesn't mean it's not there. In fact, denial enhances his ability to hide behind the mask of "psychological and emotional problems." There is also the possibility of partial possession, which comes and goes, and is more difficult to discern.
Before you accuse me of passing off all psychological problems as "the devil made me do it," let me say that I realize there is a lot of complexity to this issue and that a combination of factors is probable. Certainly, good, normal people don't have to worry about the Devil or his minions suddenly and against their will taking possession of them. A person has to open that door by establishing a chronic pattern of violations of conscience and rebellious behavior. Some enter into that world directly by dabbling in the occult, through the influence of video games, occult books, or trying to divine the future via mystical methods.
What I worry about most, however, is the total exclusion among modern parents and psychologists of the possibility of Satanic influence. I have lived long enough to know occult forces are real, even though it can't be proven or quantified, any more than God's existence. I can recognize occult forces in many accounts of "Bi-Polar" behavior: the suddenly dark brooding moods that possess a child with even the most minimal parental requirement that demands self-control; the evil, cursing language the comes out of the child, completely at odds with his or her normally mild personality. Many "Bi-Polar" teens have more obvious signs of evil influence, i.e. dreams of devilish images and apparitions that plague them when depressed. Yet, psychologists refuse to ever acknowledge the influence of Satan on these case, lest they be ridiculed and have their licenses revoked.
Naturally, the establishment has it's growing list of mood-altering drugs to respond to this trend. The rise in "Bi-Polar" diagnoses is a boon to drug companies profits. Frantic parents, who have long written off strong discipline to hinder the development of bad attitudes in children are desperate for some "health professional" to prescribe a drug that will keep their child "modulated and under control." Having no understanding of the spiritual dimension of the problem, they demand one drug after another until the child responds to the mind numbing effects. But there are many side affects and risks to these drugs, including the danger of suicide. The typical response of the medical professionals to adverse side effects is NOT to acknowledge the inherent problems with all mood-altering drugs, but to proscribe an ever more complex "cocktail" or mixture of drugs and dosages.
The real trouble with these drugs is that they actually appear to work. They do work on the symptoms, but it's not a cure. Now, this is my opinion only; I can't prove it. I believe the only reason these drugs "work" is because they shut down the portion of the brain where conscience perceives spiritual external inputs-both the good and the bad. This temporarily gets evil spiritual influences out of the head, but it does nothing to teach parents or teens how to deal with these on their own. My theory is based upon my personal experience with problem teens that I have counseled about the workings of conscience who have given me feedback after beginning a drug regime, explaining that they could no longer feel the guilt feelings associated with conscience, nor were they plagued by their former anger, Satanic thoughts etc.
So, isn't this good, to have your child's external input center zeroed out, so he can be "himself"? To be a mild-mannered zombie again? No. All people need to learn to recognize and struggle with the influences of good and evil, especially the subtle spiritual forces that come via conscience. None of that is learned by putting kids on drugs. Shutting down this source of divine or evil influence defeats much of the purpose of this earthly test.
When children think they are "all better" or normal and start to go off these drugs, Satanic influences often rush back in with thoughts of suicide. This is a well-documented phenomenon that has psychologists trying all types of slow withdrawal strategies to counter, and suicide is still on the rise. I've never seen a suicidal person that doesn't have an oppressive feeling of Satanic influence about him, totally controlling his mind. Parents need to learn to watch out for the more subtle influences of evil upon themselves and their children before it reaches this fatal step. I'm warning my subscribers that this new psychological trend and its false remedy (drugs) is a symptom of our times, heading in a very wrong direction. Don't let it control your family's destiny.