Pareciera
que están tratando de etiquetar a los niños cristianos de "necesitados de
tratamiento psicológico”. Todo lo que hacen por destruir los fundamentos
de la fe cristiana y en especial la niñez. Son capaces de cualquier cosa. Ahora entendemos porque las aplicaciones
de juegos para tabletas y celulares son GRATIS, tienen como único propósito
entretener nuestros niños para que pasen el menor tiempo pensando y meditando
en lo que verdaderamente importa. Si logran controlar a nuestros niños con
entretenimiento, no le serán impedimentos a sus planes de control en el mañana.
Alertas.
Fuente: healthland (PUNTO) time (PUNTO) com/2013/03/28/can-your-child-be-too-religious/#.UVdjel8zgzI
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Título: Can Your Child Be Too Religious?
Fecha: 28 de marzo de 2013
By: Francine Russo
Religion can be a source of comfort that
improves well-being. But some kinds of religiosity could be a sign of deeper
mental health issues.
Seeing their kids more eager to pray than play
video games, most parents would shout, “Hallelujah” or whatever their expression
of joy. And they should. Research shows that religion can be a positive force
in the lives of children, just as can be for adults. “Religion,” says Bill
Hathaway, a clinical psychologist of religion and Dean of the School of
Psychology and Counseling at Regent University, “is related to the child having
a higher sense of self esteem, better academic adjustment and lower rates of
substance abuse and delinquent or criminal behavior.”
So if your child is immersed in scripture after
school and prays regularly throughout the day, you may breathe a sigh of
relief. She’s such a good girl. My boy is okay.
Or maybe not. Your child’s devotion may be a
great thing, but there are some kids whose religious observances require a
deeper look. For these children, an overzealous practice of their family faith
— or even another faith — may be a sign of an underlying mental health issue or
a coping mechanism for dealing with unaddressed trauma or stress.
Therapists in private practice report that they
are seeing children and teens across a range of faiths whose religious practice
can be problematic. The amount of time they spend praying, or in other acts of
spiritual practice, is not as important, they say, as the quality of this
devotion, and whether it helps the children or instead isolates them and
undermines their schoolwork and relationships. Children with
obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), for example, may rigidly repeat holy
verses, say Hail Mary’s or focus on other rituals less out of a deeper sense of
faith but more as an expression of their disorder. “It looks positive but could
be negative,” says Stephanie Mihalas, a UCLA professor and licensed clinical
psychologist.
Such ritualistic behavior, she says, may also
reflect a child’s way of coping with anxiety, and in reality could be no more
spiritual than fanatical hand washing or dreading to walk on cracks. “These
kids fear that if they don’t obey their religious rules perfectly,” explains
Carole Lierberman, MD, a psychiatrist in Beverly Hills, “God will punish them.”
Some children suffer from scrupulosity, a
form of OCD that involves a feeling of guilt and shame. Sufferers obsessively
worry that they have committed blasphemy, been impure or otherwise sinned. They
tend to focus on certain rules or rituals rather than the whole of their faith.
They worry that God will never forgive them. And this can signal the onset of
depression or anxiety, says John Duffy, a Chicago area clinical psychologist specializing
in adolescents. “Kids who have made ‘mistakes’ with sex or drug use,” he says,
“may have trouble forgiving themselves.”
Such fastidiousness to religious practices may
not seem so harmful, but extreme behavior such as delusions or hallucinations
may be a sign of serious mental illness. Seeing and hearing things that are not
there can be symptoms of manic-depressive, bipolar disorder, or early onset
schizophrenia. But parents may be less attuned to such unhealthy behavior when
it occurs under the guise of faith.
It’s not unusual that children in families where
marital discord, harsh discipline, abuse, or addiction are present, perform
rituals for protection. If they know their parents approve of religion, says
Lieberman, “they try to be good little children and stay below the radar of the
family chaos or parents’ rage.” Or, as Mihalas has seen, some children push
their already observant parents to be even stricter, fearing that catastrophe
will strike otherwise.
When does religiosity raise these red flags? The
crucial test focuses on how the kids are functioning in the rest of their
lives. Are they doing well at school, playing sports or music, socializing with
friends? If so, then their faith is probably a source of strength and
resilience. If, however, the religious practices and rituals seem to be
overtaking their daily lives, and displacing their normal activities, experts
suggest taking steps to understand what’s triggering the focus on faith. To
guide the discussion, here’s what they recommend:
Model a healthy balance between religion and
life
Show them in your own behavior, suggests
Mihalas, how religion can co-exist with enjoying life.
If your child switches to a different style of
religion, be tolerant
If your children are doing well in other areas
of their life, don’t panic, says Hathaway. Unless you feel strongly that they
are morally wrong, take this shift in stride.
Be alert to a sudden and pervasive shift in
religious practice
Talk to your child about it. Ask her what her
religion means to her. Ask him what he is getting out of it, how it makes him
feel.
If you feel your child needs help, find a
therapist comfortable with religion
Before engaging a therapist, ask about his or
her comfort level with devout religious practice.
Religious families need not worry that therapy
will draw their child away from their faith, Hathaway says. He recalls one girl
struggling with anorexia who felt that she could never be “good enough” to
satisfy the harsh, judgmental God of her imagination. After psychological
treatment that included a spiritual element, she not only recovered from her
anorexia, she developed a more positive view of God, of other people and
herself. Instead of being weighed down by guilt and anxiety, her spiritual life
became a comfort and joy. And that’s the role that religion should have for
people of faith.
Fuente: healthland (PUNTO) time (PUNTO) com/2013/03/28/can-your-child-be-too-religious/#.UVdjel8zgzI
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