As a Jesus follower, I believe that where we currently live is a fallen world. Knowing that and aware of this truth, it is our duty to lay the way for God’s Kingdom to come. Sin festers within our heart, mind, and soul. Therefore, the existence of psychopathology (of the mind) is a logical fallacy found within the gift of human experience. Whether the cause of mental disorders is a transference of the world (trama/nurture) or encoded biologically at the genetic level (chance/nature), I believe our living God has given us the tools and practice to alleviate some if not all our mind-made suffering.
Based on my experience I would define psychopathology as an inflicted way of thinking that manifests unhealthy behaviors outside of what we consider the social norm. The Apostle Paul in Romans 12:2 says “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
I love this verse because it acknowledges that we will not be perfect except through our pursuit of perfection. Keep on that road to Damascus brothers and sisters…
The secular worldview on psychopathology is emotional dysregulation disrupted at the chemical level. The field of psychopathology as it studies the nature, development, and treatment of psychological disorders has been in its infancy and is continually developing and adding new findings. Living great minds who stand on the shoulders of giants questioning, hypothesizing, and discerning more accurate tests.
As someone living with one of these disorders, bipolar 1, I find it in my own self-interest to learn everything academic on the subject so I can therefore share what I have learned with others afflicted with this illness. It is part of the world’s view that we will always have a percentage of “crazies” operating on the fringes of society. People simply snapped by the pressures of the world and outcast. The number of these people only grows as we find new ways to ostracize and ignore the problem. For me to look in their eyes, I see myself.
We all think differently with our own personal references spiraling up through an intimate universe of one. Making that connection, universe to universe, is an amazing gift that we can wield for the betterment of mankind.