Reading for the mentally ill or unstable?

[Tansey Ella]

I was just reading the thread about someone reading for their cousins friend who was psychologically unstable. I wanted to ask anyone, a reader or not , how do you feel about this? BTW this thread is not an indictment of that person, it just gave me pause and I wondered how others felt. I personally felt MDY used very good judgment.
This thread was started to stimulate discussion.
do you refuse to read for someone if you know they may not be too stable? If you know they have mental illness, ie maybe depression or bipolar , would that preclude you from reading for them? if they were on meds but seemed to be OK, would that affect your decision?
do you think a person can have mental illness and still be psychic? and or read for others?
I recall the first reading i got, it sounded so much like therapy that i had to wonder-why did i think this was fortune telling? it is much more like therapy.
all responses are welcome.
to add to this post,
do you feel that person can read for others if they have a mental illness? If you knew your reader was bipolar, would yo use her/him?
congress passes bill to force mental heath parity

http://panicdisorder.about.com/b/2008/03/08/house-passes-mental-health-parity-bill.htm

incident in NYC woman dies in psych ER

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/02/nyregion/02hosp.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion"%20target="_blank&oref=slogin

you tube video of the surveillance of the woman at the psych ER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lKUwBCIBzA

 

[UrbanFool]

There are probably a lot of us on this forum who suffer from some kind of mental instability (for lack of a better term.) I've always thought of the tarot as therapeutic, and it helps me with my panic and anxiety.

There would be some people I wouldn't read for, but those would be decided on a case-by-case basis. It would be people who didn't have the mental capacity to understand a reading anyhow.

Kelly

 

[Azarial]

I personally would never discriminate against someone due to mental illness. I have suffered from depression in the past and have an anxiety disorder and it has never effected my ability to get a reading or do a reading. In fact tarot has always been very therapeutic for me as I'm sure it has for many others.

 

[GryffinSong]

I know so many people who are depressed that I wonder if it's become normal. :\ I wouldn't read for someone who I felt was violent or out of control. But depression, bipolar, or anyone whose meds are working ... if I wanted to read for them, that certainly wouldn't stop me. I'm no pro though, and only read when/if I feel like it.

 

[WalesWoman]

We can't all be happy go lucky all the time, I don't think depression is a normal state of being, but life is full of ups and downs and sometimes we don't cope with things as well as others.

When I first started tarot I was in the emotional pits, it was better than therapy and helped me a lot, but I would never recommend replacing therapy with tarot by any means. It just gave me the insights I needed to work through it, but if the problems would have continued, I know I would have sought professional help... actually I did get medical help rather than psychological, because part of it had to do with physical things that were affecting me emotionally as a side effect.

I think it would depend on what sort of psychological/mental state the person is in... neurosis vs psychosis. How grounded is this person in "reality" and then you have to ask... what is reality? What is "normal" and what is "abnormal?" Some very sane people have spirit guides, some are conduits of entities that speak through them, some have visions or see things others can't... and those same qualities could also brand a person as mentally unstable and delusional and get them a free pass to a psych ward. Just because I can't do any of those things, doesn't mean it's not possible.

There are vast differences of psychological problems... so not being a trained psychotherapist, how would one determine if a person was mentally balanced & stable enough to read or not be read for?

I have done a few readings where what I picked up was unnerving and in communication with the person, I really felt that they were not "sane", that perhaps they have a split personality and were delusional and I stopped reading for anyone for a while after that, because I was afraid of what they might do based on how I interpreted the cards and if I was wrong... OMG! I sure didn't want to say, uhm, I think you need professional help, it would have been the honest thing to say, but I was also a big chicken and didn't want to piss them off or if they were on the edge, push them over.

So after all this, I don't know what to say. If you don't feel right, don't do it. Do a reading on if it is advisable or not to do a reading for this person. Some people pull a card and decide on that one card if they should or shouldn't read for that person.

Maybe talk to the person and find out what their expectations are from a tarot reading, how they think it might help them and what they might do from the information they are given, I just don't know. When in doubt, don't.

I am not saying don't read for someone who is diagnosed with depression or some anxiety or phobia, obsessive/compulsive (those are usually classed as neurosis, the person is mostly "Normal"... they know who they are, but can't control their emotional responses to certain stimulae ... without some help, be it medication or some kind of therapy)... what I am talking about is psychosis... grandiose delusions, irrational behavior, at risk to themselves and others... that sort of thing... like the ones that go out and shoot people because God told them to... or think they are.

The main thing I am afraid of is reading for someone who would think that because the cards said so, that they should do what ever they said without questioning it or themselves, letting something make their decisions for them rather than seeing tarot as a means of gaining insights into themselves and using their own free will and judgement. That kind of responsibility is as a reader.... over powering and frightening.

 

[gregory]

The only reason I avoid doing it (and as I only read on line, I have no idea really, unless someone is already "known" to me) is that I might upset them in ways I didn't see coming, if you see what I mean. And that these ways might actually damage their mental health further. I could - for instance - hit something that they hadn't been ready to face yet - that sort of thing. Not very likely with me; I am no great shakes as a reader - but I don't ever want to do harm with a reading.....

 

[Tansey Ella]

I went through a depression and I reached out to a psychic She had undergone cancer and discovered she was an empath and had psychic ability. She read for me weekly, a lot like therapy sessions.too. It worked out very well, and all these years later I recall her fondly.
yes i guess the fear with someone who was not too stable is they would take the reading as written in stone and not realize that they still had control

 

[Milfoil]

Just popping this thread over to talking tarot.

 

[Promise]

I think that my main concern would be whether or not something in the reading might push them over the edge or amplify an already existing instability. But many times, people don't outwardly shows signs of mental illness, particularly if it's mild or controlled mostly by medication.

Personally, it would just depend on the situation. If I did read for someone I was unsure about, I'd certainly choose my words very carefully; sometimes things come out harsher than we intend just because of something as simple as the words we choose to use. I think a lot of it would depend on the way you read as well; are you more of a fortune-teller or do you lean towards the therapeutic?

If I knew for a fact without a shadow of a doubt that someone had a serious mental illness and was not controlled well by medications, I might choose not to read for them. As an example, a friend of my step-sisters found out that I read, and she wanted a reading about her marriage. I knew that this woman had a history of manic episodes brought on by stress or emotional tension, and I also knew that she was going through a nasty divorce at the time. I chose not to read for her, because there was just too much potential for the reading to reflect the negativity in her life, and I personally would not have been able to reconcile it with myself if my reading had pushed her into an episode.

I think I would just have to pay attention to the situation and trust my instincts. If you have doubts, maybe the best thing to do would be to politely decline.

 

[ilweran]

It would very much depend on the situation. I've been treated in the past for depression and I work for a mental health charity so I've met quite a wide range of people with mental health problems both when they're well and not well. A lot of them, when they're well, you wouldn't know that they had a mental illness. Plus there are some people who aren't mentally ill but who could be vulnerable in some way, there is no conveniently clear cut line between 'normal' and 'ill', there are plenty of people in the middle.