Nebuchadnezzar and the mind...

Just studying Daniel chapter 4 tonight and I noticed something strange in 4:27 and 4:34. I've often had serious doubts about the various disciplines of psychology and whatnot, but I've started actually questioning the entire system, right from the getgo. I mean, reading Daniel 4:27 and 4:34 (in the context of the story), it seems that Nebuchadnezzar was struck with 'mental illness' (thinking and acting like you're a cow probably qualifies on anyone's scale?!), but Daniels prescription for prevention was:

"...Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed..." (4:27)

In order to prevent the coming 'mental illness', Nebuchadnezzar had to repent from sin. That was the prescription; the only prescription. That made me ponder a lot.

Not only that, but his sanity returned when he "...raised my eyes toward heaven..." (4:34).

I don't think that passage, or it's implications, would sit well with most psych. students that I know...let alone most psychologists or counsellors. I've gotta pound a lot more into this, but I'm really struggling to find a biblical basis for mental illness that is 'non-physiological' (for lack of a better term); aka. problems that aren't simply resulting from a metal plate in the noggin or a physically damaged piece of cranium or something. I'm struggling to see a Biblical basis for problems that are resultant from 'bad parenting' or 'co-dependancy' or something like that. All that stuff is called 'sin' or resultant from sin(s). Based on this passage, I would be lead to speculate that basically all non-physiological mental illness is actually related to sin, though that may not appear the case to the observer. I'll search the word more and see what I find. Just posting some thoughts in order to write them out and see what comes in the writing process. Until the next 'episode',

The Armchair Theologian