I’ve always been interested in Schizophrenia. My mother in law suffered from it. She established a second personality, with a different name, to stand in when she couldn’t take responsibility for her own actions. It seems to be a genuine inner conflict that can only be controlled by using the mind as a protection mechanism.
Multiple personality disorder also shows how the mind can come to the defense of an individual at certain times. In the movie “Sybil” we saw a number of personalities come to life as this young woman went through horrific things in her childhood. In order to shield herself from the pain she endured, she became someone else – someone who could fight the evil that she was experiencing.
Of course, sorting through all these different personalities would be frightening and lead to severe mental problems. It reminds me how intricately and wonderfully made the human brain is. God gives us the ability to handle a lot – including inner conflict.
As all of us struggle inwardly with various conflicts, we often wonder where God is in all of it. You may be battling a serious disease and your mind is begging God to release you from it in one way or another. You wonder if you should end it all.
You fall in love with someone, but aren’t ready to make the commitment to marriage. Your inner mind tells you it’s wrong to live together, but your desires say something else. You know the difference between human behavior and what God expects, but you struggle. Sometimes those struggles turn into serious problems.
There’s a constant battle going on within us, between good and evil. It will continue until God takes us to heaven. We can be assured that Jesus took all our sins to the grave and destroyed our guilt, but we will still face temptation every day. Our sinful flesh will only die when we do, but in the meantime we can rest in the hope of eternal life in perfection.
Mental illness is very real. There are treatments and medications for this disease that should not be overlooked. God intervenes through medicine as well. Things have come a long way from the old ways of treating the mentally ill, but we have a long way still to go. I pray that God will comfort those experiencing these struggles and help us to eventually find even better ways.
Jesus is our champion. He’s the one who went to bat for all of us. He’s our hope and rock when we face adversity. He will defend us against the evil one and squelch all our inner battles when we ask for His help. He lives within us through the Holy Spirit and will never leave us. God is always there.
atimetoshare.me 
I love how you always include the gospel in your posts!
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That’s the best part! Thank you Jonathan 😜
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a great post Kathy—my brother suffered from paranoid schizophrenia—which meant the entire family suffered for years before he was properly diagnosed. Which really didn’t matter as the damage had been done—mother had died, dad had hidden, my brother then eventually committed suicide and I picked up the pieces—-
but that is a wonderful perspective—the battle of the two wolves!!!
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No wonder you are such a nurturer. Always having to pick up the pieces. This is why we’re kindred spirits. Thank you❤️️
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Excellent post. I love the Cherokee proverb.
It is interesting that your mother-in-law was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and yet she had an alternate personality. That sounds to me more like multiple personality disorder, or dissociative identity disorder, as it is known today.
When I was 12 years old, my dad had a “nervous breakdown” and was put in a psychiatric hospital, where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. This was in 1965, when the criteria for a schizophrenic diagnosis was different than it is today. A couple of years later, my dad’s diagnosis was changed to multiple personality disorder.
I grew up living in the same house with my dad for more than half of my childhood. Going back to my earliest memories, it is obvious to me that there were several very different personalities living inside my dad. His predominant personality, until just before I turned 12, was a very conservative fundamentalist Christian, the pastor of a small nondenominational church. Another personality was a hippie style, motorcycle riding, pot smoking, rock music loving Buddhist. And there were other personalities that I don’t even want to talk about.
Over the years, I have read countless psychological books in an attempt to understand my dad, my entire dysfunctional family, and my own dysfunctional self. Although I was agnostic for much of my life, the conclusion I have reached through all of my searching is exactly the same as yours: “There’s a constant battle going on within us, between good and evil.”
Today I cling to the Truth that is found in God’s word:
You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You. -Isaiah 26:3 NKJV
Thank You, Lord Jesus!
The more I read your blog, Kathy, the more Iove it. ❤ ❤
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Oops, that last sentence was supposed to say “…the more I love it”.
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Oh, my sweet Linda, thanks for your reading and liking my blog. Your life has been a true nightmare which makes me so happy that God is at the center of your life now. I’ve had my share of inner battles mostly driven by feelings of inferiority and guilt. Growing up a Christian fed those feelings and played on me for years. God’s grace is indeed unconditional and I praise him for that. Scars always remain like a cancer, but we have the cure. May He continue to heal you.
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