Was Joan of Arc suffering from a psychotic disorder?!
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I don't know, I'll have to ask her......No she said that she has been taking all of her medication and everything is cool with her.
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yes
By today's standards, yes.
DSM-IV 297.1 - Delusional disorder, grandiose type.
no a messenger from god
Unfortunately any answer would be speculation.
I don't know much about the history of Joan of Arc, or that much about Psychology, but as I understand it she was convinced she was receiving messages from God - which could suggest Schizophrenia, but then again - who's to say she didn't eat some bad cheese - she was French after all?
Perhaps. Although since she never underwent a psychiatric evaluation, since there was no such thing as psychiatry back then, we don't know. For all we know God was talking to her or she made it up to inspire the troops or just so she could fight along side the men.
no. she was on drugs
Joan of Arc was not suffering from a psychotic disorder. The "voices" that led her, she claims, came from St. Michael (who was accompanied by other angels) as well as other saints such as St. Margaret, and St. Catherine. They guided her then just like some people who are close to God today are led to do things. Joan was always described as "a singularly pious child, grave beyond her years, who often knelt in the church absorbed in prayer and loved the poor tenderly (1)" When she spoke to judges toward the end of her life during her trials, she said to them "I saw them with these very eyes, as well as I see you."
Great efforts have been made by rationalistic historians, such as M. Anatole France, to explain these voices as the result of a condition of religious and hysterical exaltation which has been fostered in Joan by priestly influence, combined with certain prophecies current in the countryside of a maiden from the bois chesnu (Oak Wook), near which the Fairy Tree was situated, who was to save France by a miracle. But the baselessness of this analysis of the phenomena has been fully exposed by many non-Catholic writers. There is not a shadow of evidence to support this theory of priestly advisers coaching Joan in a part, but much which contradicts it. Moreover, unless we accuse the Maid of deliberate falsehood, which no one is prepared to do, it was the voices which created the state of patriotic exaltation, and not the exaltation which preceded the voices. Her evidence on these points is clear.
Although Joan never made any statement as to the date at which the voices revealed her mission, it seems certain that the call of God was only made known to her gradually. By May 1428, she no longer doubted that she was bidden to go to the help of the king and the voices guided her through gaining support from noblemen, the king, and the army she led. They never left her throughout her entire mission and always told her what God's will was of her.
Still, before Joan could be employed in military operations she was sent to Poitiers to be examined by a numerous committee of learned bishops and doctors. The examination was of the most searching and formal character. It is regrettable in the extreme that the minutes of the proceedings, to which Joan frequently appealed later on at her trial, have altogether perished. All that we know is that her ardent faith, simplicity, and honesty make a favorable impression. The theologians found nothing heretical in her claims to supernatural guidance, and, without pronouncing upon the reality of her mission, they thought that she might be safely employed and further tested.
Joan accomplished all of the deeds she ever claimed she would including saving Orléans from siege, crowning the king and saving France from the English.
When her purpose was completed and her mission successful, the bad people who were determined to convict her of heresy and witchcraft, eventually were able to get her burned at the stake on May 30, 1431.
Joan is not considered one of the most known saints in the world and her dedication to her cause and her faith is known forevermore throughout the world.
Source(s):
(1) Knight, K. "St. Joan of Arc." New Advent. 1 Oct. 2005. Robert Appleton Company. <www.newadvent.com>.
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