Priests with psychology degrees

  • Thread starter Thread starter April29
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
My twin. I have generalized anxiety disorder too. All my life, I’ve been told I’m too sensitive. Decades later my temperament hadn’t changed. It’s difficult for me to stop comparing myself to others. It seems like the only reason I need God is because I’m too weak to care for myself
 
Yes! This is exactly how I feel sometimes. Sometimes it feels like the people in the Church, at school, my peers don’t know what to do with me. And don’t get me wrong, because of the anxiety I feel like a burden so I avoid people as best as I can. Like you say, it’s hard not to look around and see how other people are loved by all and just radiate this joy and peace and here I am this ball of OCD and anxiety 😂. But I think this may be our hidden power too. We literally have Our Lord as our only company. This can also be our death though because people just tend to leave us alone when we really need a lot of help.
 
Exactly 🙂 and I need to do the same. You see, with me I just tend to get really embarrassed and shut down( then I’ll have a good old panic crying session at home lol!). Like you say, staying busy just helps. Look at the gifts Our Lord gave you. Your honesty in these few minutes invited me to be open with you. That’s a very nice gift to have. I have three perfect sisters, so I understand 😂, but we just have to trust. Thank you for sharing all this with me. It helps to see that I’m not alone in the world with these things!
 
Trust me, it’s not easy for me either. The ocd. I consider myself a highly intuitive person but I struggle with doubt. I just know things I don’t know why. It’s counter to logical thinking.
 
We may indeed be twins lol! I need certainty otherwise I panic. I feel like I am on the edge of a precipice at all times. For us it’s black and white and anything gray is a reason to panic. This is probably why I struggled so much with confession. I need to know it was done right. I wish we could all see our Guardian Angel like St. Gema Gagani, to tell us when our confession went wrong or have a priest like St. Padre Pío who could see if we left something out or were dancing around it. The blame comes from people who are afraid too. I think this is a lot of what I’ve seen in the strong people, a lot of fear, and we are the scale goat sometimes unfortunately, but like you said, we just have to keep pushing!
 
I’m guessing that what you are really wanting/needing is for priests to have a better understanding of mental illnesses in general.
This doesn’t require a psychology degree(and personally I’d also consider that if priests got psychology degrees then there may be a concern that they could take things too much that way and end up putting a psychological spin on everything).

It’s understandable that you would want them to have greater awareness as a priest can only be a good “shepherd” if he understands all the facts.
Ie:he has to first understand what OCD is and not be afraid of hearing about it,or have stigma towards it,to then be in a position to guide you whether what your confessing is from sin or ocd.

I think the Catholic Church as a “structure” does do a good job of understanding that mental illnesses exist,can affect behaviour,and can reduce or nullify the “culpability” of sin but this doesn’t always “translate on the ground level”.
Ie:in some Parishes you might find a priest that is very aware and understanding regarding mental illnesses whereas in another you might find one who is totally scared/stigma about it and sees the only possible cause of actions as being from sin.

Maybe something like a seminar directed towards priests with people with mental illnesses and people who work in this medical field as speakers,may be beneficial.
 
This is exactly what I think is needed. I love my faith with my soul, but sometimes the obsessions get so bizarre and straight up awful that I am was afraid of confessing them. I’ve almost gotten to the point where I am hoping at some point I find a priest who has Pure-O so I can just speak openly with him lol! But like you said, raising awareness is really all I’m trying to get at here. I love my faith and want to practice it as well as I can for the Glory of God and the salvation of my soul, but I’m afraid a priest will misunderstand again and that this whole thing could turn into a disaster. Seminars would be great, anything would be great really. One can feel like the rejected crazy sheep the Shepard doesn’t really want anything to do with or doesn’t know WHAT to do with. It can lead one to despair so quickly and it’s terrifying.
 
It’s the gray area that disturbs me. For example I’ll wonder if I was too sensitive or was the person too aggressive during a bad encounter. I’ve difficulty dealing with manipulative, passive aggressive people. I had a frenemy would always make the jokes that really get under my skin. She would deny it and pretend I was too sensitive. What’s perception and what is the truth? I couldn’t prove her jokes meant more than that, my intuition told me she uses humor to hurt or get even. I don’t have time for crazy sorts.
 
You know, I think I had the same thing happen to me many times. For a while I was bitter over it( there was a time when I left the Church) but, eventually I learned that this kind of friendship just breads this kind of horrible feeling you know? My sister once told me that when they joke, they are actually trying to hurt you somehow. A real friend would never say anything that hurts you. This is a lie that popular culture is trying to sell us, the whole “best friends are mean to each other thing “. I have come to believe that its best to avoid this kind of friendship, to forgive the ones that came in this manner. During my time away from the church I bought into lie after lie. This only made my insecurity spike. I have been the friend who has gotten hurt, and have been the one who hurts. Looking back, whenever I did it, it was because that person made me insecure somehow. I wanted to push myself up by pushing her down. This is a very sad place to be for any person. It’s terrible weakness and lack of character. This is what is happening when your friends poke at you. It really is. You make them insecure somehow. So remember to pray for and forgive them. God’s mercy brought me out of the whole I let myself fall into, and am still trying to allow myself to be brought out off.
 
Last edited:
I’ve heard St. Dyphna is very good. St. Therese of the Child Jesus ( who I love very much). St. Faustina ( I haven’t heard her being mentioned for mental affliction, but she is just amazing!), Blessed Bartolo Longo I heard is awesome! He was a Satanic priest at some point which made him have horrible anxiety, depression, paranoia, and deep, deep despair, which almost got him to suicide. He was able to convert through the Holy Rosary, and tried his best to get others to pray it because Our Lady healed him. Our Lady of Knots, Alessandro Serenelli is not a saint per day, but being that St. Maria Goretti said she wanted him in heaven and the fact that he lived the rest of his life in holiness, make me pretty sure the man made it. He was the victim of a traumatic childhood because his mom had mental issues an tried to drown him once. His dad was an alcoholic, and as a teen he gave full on to the world. I’m asking him to pray for me too right now( even though I personally have an awesome family! I just think he had mental issues going on because of all this stuff too). These are the ones I am calling upon for help. Who have you been praying for help to?
 
Last edited:
Maybe if he heard it from a doctor is would reasssure him that you need help. You can go to a Catholic charities center near you. They offer counseling there. Also, if you’re old enough, many Catholic counselors offer counseling over the phone or through your computer.
 
I’ve told him I’ve been diagnosed with bipolar three times by three different doctors he still insists he knows me more than the medical professionals because he has raised me. To him everything is a matter of working hard or not.
 
Last edited:
This sounds a lot like how my family used to be actually :). Taking things outside of the family, or letting other people get too close, was seen as not safe. And it still is. With age my dad has gotten a lot better though, and after I had my OCD/GAD meltdown and had to be taken to the ER ( I isolated myself in my room and would not come out because I was afraid I’d hurt my nieces. I couldn’t eat, hardly drank anything, couldn’t sleep, and cried compulsively) he has actually been trying really hard to get me to a good OCD therapist. Like I mentioned my parents are from Mexico ( a tiny, tiny town that didn’t even have a phone line until about 10 years ago). To them therapy isn’t something they are familiar with. Mental disorders and illnesses weren’t a thing. They were something that one had to deal with and fix on ones own. To the day my mom cuts my pills in half because she thinks medication isn’t safe 😂. Depending on your dad’s background, his age, and his own upbringing, he’ll have a little bit of a harder time dealing with these things. Try to get better, show him that the therapy helps. This will be more than enough to convince him 🙂
 
Pray for him 🙂 it sounds like all in all, he’s trying to look out for you in as much has he understands good. Keep being faithful to Holy Mother Church, but parents are important too. It sounds like he cares for you. Be patient and keep going to your therapy and confession. Trust that the Lord knows you’re trying. Have you spoke. To your spiritual director about this?
 
I don’t have one. I used to but I felt discouraged from doing so.
 
Depends on what they’re taught by psychologists, who generally in the secular universities don’t make any reference to the soul, to the will, to the human or supernatural virtues, to grace, to our inclination to sin, etc.

I think we need more priests with hard science degrees so they won’t be swayed by the mumbo jumbo of most of today’s psychologists, sociologists, etc.
 
Last edited:
I considered a psychology major- I probably would go through with it if seminarians weren’t required to major in philosophy (at least the one I plan to go to, you need just 3 credits short of a major- at that point, you might as well take the extra class).

Although, I probably have enough credits in the subject now that a minor would be feasible.

I think it’s a good idea- you learn about human nature and how addiction works, for example- and you learn the applications of different types of reinforcement. I think it would help priests in their normal interactions with the laity (and each other).
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top