Can the Fall be Contained? Part III (last) The Sea of Lies

As an introduction, I would like to share the video below and I will discuss it on the other side.



When I’ve shown that video to lay-friends (those who don’t work in medicine) and even a few times I’ve shown it to medical people, I’ve had the response, “Poor thing. What a horrible condition.”

However, if you show to us who work in neurology, who deal with spells and movement disorders everyday, it takes about 3 seconds to know that the movement disorder that this young lady presents with . . . are completely fake. I am confident that if you showed the video to the top 1000 movement disorder specialists in the country that 99% will sake fake. However, unlike TV shows like House, theses majority are not simply arrogant and the really smart doctor will find the true organic (physical) cause. The few medical people who supports someone like this, giving a “legitimatization” to the disorder, usually has their own agenda.

I know that my perspective may be tainted a bit (but not in a bad way) because I see these cases every day. It is estimated that 1/3 of patients who come to a neurologist’s office are having fake spells or symptoms. We call these “psychogenic.”

When I’ve shown that video to lay-friends (those who don’t work in medicine) and even a few times I’ve shown it to medical people, I’ve had the response, “Poor thing. What a horrible condition.”

However, if you show to us who work in neurology, who deal with spells and movement disorders everyday, it takes about 3 seconds to know that the movement disorder that this young lady presents with . . . are completely fake. I am confident that if you showed the video to the top 1000 movement disorder specialists in the country that 99% will sake fake.

I know that my perspective may be tainted a bit (but not in a bad way) because I see these cases every day. It is estimated that 1/3 of patients who come to a neurologist’s office are having fake spells or symptoms. We call these “psychogenic.”

Lay people, especially Christian lay people (meaning again, non- medical people) are quick to believe these symptoms are real. They are also very hesitant to accept them as psychogenic. But when they finally do accept them as psychogenic, then they see it as simple, first-person sin. What I mean, is that they think this person sits around and one day says, “I’m going to start faking seizures or other medical problems.” Therefore they are just bad people. But it is far more complicated than that. Many of these people are lying to themselves and they actually believe the symptoms that their sub-conscious is faking.

The psychological reason for most somatization disorders (or what use to be known as hysterical, psychological, or hypochondriacal disorders) is based on our fundamental desire to have value. Short of winning America’s Idol, one of the most “convenient” ways to become very important . . . oddly . . . is to become very sick. You are very important when your spouse, your family, your friends and your church are very worried about you and are constantly praying for you. You can quickly become the center of attention. But this is on a very deep, psychological level. When I try to tell these patients that they are faking it, they usually become extremely angry as do their families. Actually, the only time I’ve ever been assaulted by a patient was when I told her that the seizure that she had just demonstrated was not a real seizure.

So my point in all of this is that we live in a sea of lies because of the Fall. In my opinion there has never been a person, except for Christ, who was completely sane. It is just the matter of degree. I think in one sense, all insanity is a function of lies. Much insanity is a brain problem, but even that brain problem distorts reality . . . thus is a form of lying. People (like me) who have a tendency towards depression have a mood disorder. But a mood disorder is a lie about reality. You can think, “It is hopeless because no one cares about me, I’m a looser, life sucks” and etc. So those things are distortions of truth.

The same is of course true with anxiety disorders where we have a distorted view of dangers. And then there is psychosis where all of reality is distorted or lied about (by our brains).

So, the fall has created this sea of lies that we must swim in. And, of course, Satan is the Lord of lies (John 8:44 44You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.)

But can we manage the Fall to the point that we can rise above the lies and always know just truth? I don’t think so. So, we can’t trust ourselves completely. So, in my opinion we can’t always speak with authority. This is not to say we can never know truth. We don’t have to reach the point of only knowing; Cogito ergo sum.”
To follow up on this point, so if we live in this environment of lies, it is not only acceptable or is our responsibility not to believe everything we hear or everything we tell ourselves. So when a Christian says, “God told me such and such/” Well, it is legitimate to think . . . maybe He did . . . or maybe He didn’t. I’ve talked about this before, but I do believe that doubt is a gift and a safeguard from drowning in this cold sea.

Here is a follow up video: