Have you been diagnosed with schizophrenia?

No. I’ve been told by many skeptics that I must have schizophrenia, because supernatural activity isn’t real. Therefore, what I experienced can’t be real either and only a disorder such as schizophrenia can explain these events. While I’m not a medical professional myself, all it takes is some understanding of schizophrenia to see that it can’t explain what I experienced.

First, there is no cure for schizophrenia. The symptoms of it may become more or less intense over time, but even with treatment, it never goes away. If what I experienced was the result of schizophrenia, then its sudden and complete disappearance with no medical treatment could only be miraculous. The only other explanation is that I wasn’t schizophrenic; I really was possessed by a demon, and that demon was miraculously expelled from me as the result of an exorcism. Either way, a miracle occurred when Liar was expelled from me. As a result, schizophrenia can’t explain away the supernatural events described in my testimony.

Second, schizophrenia doesn’t explain the supernatural events that occurred in the presence of witnesses who also experienced those events. Some skeptics have said it could be the result of mass delusions, but that’s a poor explanation at best. Mass delusion (combined with some well placed objects and/or accomplices) may be a way that a stage magician can convince an audience that they’re performing magic, but it doesn’t explain actual supernatural activity. It can’t explain how two people who don’t know German could suddenly start spelling out a message in German on a Ouija board. It doesn’t explain why several people all reacted simultaneously with shock and surprise when I started glowing after touching a supposed ghost. It doesn’t explain the many other events that took place while I was possessed by Liar, and it doesn’t explain the supernatural events I and others have witnessed in the years following his removal. It certainly doesn’t explain the miracles God bestows on His believers throughout the world every day.

Now, I’m not saying that schizophrenia isn’t real and that it can’t result in powerful hallucinations that seem real to the person with the disease. Yes, it’s very real and it’s a serious medical condition! However, it should be diagnosed and treated by medical professionals. Skeptics on the Internet who claim that I must be schizophrenic are hardly qualified to diagnose me.

If I’m struggling from spiritual attack and I think I might be schizophrenic, what should I do?

Again, I’m no doctor or therapist, so my first advice would be to seek help from a medical professional, especially if you’ve already been diagnosed with schizophrenia or any other mental illness. While mental illness may not carry with it the stigma that it did not long ago, it’s still a common misconception that seeking help for mental illness is a sin. It’s not. If someone I knew had a serious medical condition and they sought my advice, I’d say to see a doctor! Nowhere in the Bible does it say that we should not seek medical treatment. Mental illness is no different.

That said, don’t neglect also seeking the Lord! It certainly possible to both be mentally ill and under spiritual attack. While I may not have had schizophrenia, I imagine it’d be frustrating not knowing if you’re under spiritual attack or if it’s all in your mind. So, treat both issues. Everyone needs the Lord, whether we’re mentally ill or not! When dealing with any issue we’re struggling with, we’re to lean on Him even while we’re seeking professional help. I had a serious medical condition, I’d see a doctor but I’d also pray and ask for prayer. If someone I know has a serious medical condition, I’d pray for them while they’re receiving medical treatment. If I’m with them, I’d also pray with them and offer words of encouragement from Scripture. Again, mental illness is no different.

So there’s nothing wrong with praying and seeking help from a medical professional. God can, and does, help those who seek Him. Sometimes that help is in the form of a miraculous healing, but more often that help is giving you the strength to spiritually endure what you’re going through. Our bodies are still in a fallen state, and the world around us is likewise in decay. But don’t despair! Jesus will return for us. When he does, all who believe in Him (both living and the dead) will be lifted up and transformed in the blink of an eye into our eternal, imperishable state. All our ailments, physical and mental, will be cured. With clear heads and with restored bodies, we will see Jesus with our own eyes when we meet Him in the air. It’s with that hope that we can endure all things that this world throws at us, and that includes physical and mental illness too.

So what if you aren’t saved, or you aren’t sure if you’re saved? Well, there’s no better time than now to change that! Jesus loves you and died to pay the price for your sins, but that’s not the end of the story! He rose from the grave, and defeated the power of sin and death in the process. If you believe this, pray to God, confess your sins and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. If you do, then you will be saved and you too can be have peace that comes with knowing that your body and mind will be fully and eternally healed when the Lord returns.

That said, don’t neglect following Christ’s teachings! A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that accepting Jesus as their Lord is optional. It’s not! Jesus may accept us as we are, but He doesn’t want us to stay that way. Just like seeking a doctor’s advice is of no value if you don’t follow his or her advice, accepting Jesus as Savior doesn’t do you any good if you don’t follow His teachings too. No one can earn their way into Heaven, and no one can follow Christ’s teachings perfectly. He knows that. He’ll forgive us when we confess our sins and try again, but the point is that we need to try!

The reason I stress that so much is that the Devil will try to tempt you to go back to your old ways. Immediately after I had the demon expelled from my body, I went into a bathroom to clean myself up. There was an open window in there that I could have easily crawled out of. Even though Liar’s voice was no longer in my head, the thought popped into my head that I could just climb out of that window and go back to my old life. I knew in my heart that it was true, but that truth wasn’t coming from God! It almost certainly Liar tempting me. Even though I knew the thought was demonic, it was really tempting nonetheless! Having Liar in my head was all I’d known for so many years that the thought of not having him there was frightening. But I knew the Truth: that I needed the Holy Spirit, and not Liar, in my life. I needed to follow Jesus, not the Devil.

Had I chosen differently, if I’d crawled out of that window and walked away from Christ, I have no doubt I’d have eventually invited Liar back into my body and he probably wouldn’t have come alone. My situation would have been worse off than if I didn’t believe and have Liar expelled in the first place. But even if I had done that, God would have taken me back if I repented, and Liar (and his friends) could be expelled again. If this your situation, if you’ve believed the Devil’s lies, gone back to some or all of your old ways and are now suffering spiritual attacks as a result, Jesus is still knocking at the door of your life. Believe in Him. Follow His teachings. Confess and turn away from your old sinful ways. Accept Him as your Lord and Savior. Let Him in.

For more information on schizophrenia, please see https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/schizophrenia/what-is-schizophrenia

If that link is no longer working, please let me know!