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The original question from the first post was, "How is a mental health professional with an invisible friend who's will he obeys, qualified to diagnose delusion in someone else?" What are the professional standards around this, and how do I know that the person can tell the difference?
The incident that raised this question was some years ago. Mention of the temporal gap was only to illustrate that the question persists. The rest of the information was to illustrate the environment in which the question arose. I'm asking the question here, now because it just occurred to me to do so. I've been a member on AK for many years, but thought I'd check it out over here.
I suppose the degree to which it is an issue depends on whether you are the one interacting with the person who is an adult with an invisible friend who's will he obeys, and is also in charge of diagnosing whether or not you are subject to delusion. Seems like a conflict of interest, does it not? True today, tomorrow, or 15 years ago.
Hadn't thought of it as an appeal to the APA, other than to hope that someone with credentials, and maybe an invisible friend who's will he obeys, could explain it to me. I do agree, that if I ever needed it, I'd opt for science based counseling, rather than the faith based kind.
Fair question about why live here. It's the same question I ask the guy at work who complains about winter. Truth is, it is better.
When we moved into our previous house in June of '98, within 60 seconds of meeting my new neighbor, Dave, over the back fence, he asked me, "So which church do you attend?". A standard "getting to know you" question in this part of the world. I have been asked that question many, many times. But not lately. That's progress.
Since we got the hell out of the suburbs, and moved where we live now, in July of '19, neither of my two closest (but not too close) neighbors have asked me that question. That's progress.
A silver lining of the oppressive religious environment was, that the counter culture, while small, was vibrant and wonderful. Probably in a way it could not have been, had it not had anything to push against. When I moved down here in '85 for college, it was pretty bleak; but the freaks found each other, and I got exposed to a lot of people making their own really interesting fun.
When things started to relax after some years, a lot of those people were instrumental in creating what would become essentially, "the rest of the cultural landscape" in this area, outside of the symphony and ballet. Now there's music and art everywhere, and I've been working with one of those organizations for over thirty years.
That said, let's not lose sight of the fact that this side of the state is RED. Outside of the largest city in the region, no one without an R next to their name holds any office. In addition to which, the cross is as important as the R.
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