Is Christian Religious Mania Just Another ‘Dry Drunk’?

Earlier today it struck me that Quiverfull in its many enforcers has a problem, a problem I’d not considered in depth before.  I started thinking about it because of some rather crazy sounding stories emerging from she would should never be mentioned blog, particularly the story of her losing it over small children getting up and unwrapping Christmas presents before the parents got up. The more people commented, the more I started to realize that the expectations, perfectionism, and rage this person lives in sound almost like a ‘Dry Drunk’. And they are hardly the only one. This could fit just about every single enforcer we cover here.

Here’s a description of what a ‘Dry Drunk’ is:

• Displaying impulsivity
• Engaging repeatedly in unhealthy or risky behaviors
• Romanticizing alcohol or getting nostalgic about the “good old” drinking days
• Showing a lack of interest in previously cherished activities
• Harboring negative thoughts
• Displaying self-pity
• Denying that life needs to change

Just remove alcohol and drinking and substitute romanticizing the past and this fits so many. It fits Michael Pearl and so many of them. I’m not suggesting they are all dry alcoholics, but that we’re possibly looking at a new unnamed comorbidity that has been long unacknowledged. I am starting to see more and more articles in scientific journals about the cross over between religious fundamentalism and mental illness. It does make one wonder why.

ETA: I neglected to mention that the phrase and idea of the “Dry Drunk is invented by the 12 Step programmers and usually only used in a way to shame, blame and control those that drink. Which is exactly like what fundamentalist religion does too. There is overlap.

It’s that behavior I am speaking of. That list that needs to be renamed as it is real behavior that could apply in any number of odd mental health conditions.

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