PopeInTheWoods

While reading yesterday's newspaper (OK, OK, it was in "Dear Abby", but it was right above an article written by a real doctor), I came across a list of "suicide risk indicators" from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI). One of the 15 indicators was "Loss of religious faith." The list was so all-encompassing yet vague (changes in personality, behavior, sleep patterns, or appetite; real or imaginary worries about money or illness; feelings of guilt, shame, or self-hatred; substance abuse; nightmares; etc.) that I was left wondering if I knew any non-suicidal people. Especially since there was no lower limit on the number of positive indicators that signified a real problem (therefore deconversion => suicidal).

I gave NAMI's website a quick going-over, and saw that they claimed to be a "grassroots, self-help, support and advocacy organization of consumers, families, and friends of people with severe mental illnesses". I couldn't find any formal connections to professional mental health providers or researchers.

Amusingly, there was an article on the previous page of the paper that described research results published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, about how a person's major character traits can change over their lifetime. But I wonder which article will be more widely read and remembered.

Andy

Craig

"Loss of religious faith" is not necessarily the same thing as being an atheist. A person that loses faith can still believe in god, they just feel that they have been let down or that it's all just not worth trying anymore.

PopeInTheWoods

While I agree that not all "losses of faith" are deconversions, doesn't a deconversion necessarily involve a "loss of religious faith" (assuming faith was there to begin with)?

My main point (maybe not too clearly stated) of the OP was that this supposedly authoritative list was so ill-formed as to be meaningless.

Andy

Craig

Yeah, these kinds of lists are often like that. Take your typical "signs that your teenager is using drugs" type of warning-

They are uncommunicative
They hang out in their room alone for hours on end
They are withdrawn
They prefer the company of their own friends
They are moody

I mean, what teenager isn't like that?

PopeInTheWoods

Whoops, I guess I don't know any non-drug-users either.

scigirl

Here's some symptoms of depression, according to the NIMH:

Signs and symptoms.

They don't mention loss of religious faith, but I think it depends on a person. If my patient used to get excited about going to church, yet now felt indifferent towards it, and had some other symptoms, it could be a sign of depression (a big risk factor obviously for suicide).

I've never heard of a case where someone committed suicide simply from a deconversion.

scigirl