The following post was lifted from a separate thread and placed here because it pertains to a "Jungian approach to psychosis".
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Tell me all your thoughts on God
And ask her why we're who we are
Tell me all your thoughts on God
'Cause I'm on my way to see her...
Dishwalla - Counting Blue Cars
~*~
Quote:
Perhaps the most severe manifestation of a fixation on the static masculine/dynamic feminine polarity is acute schizophrenia. When the family system, supported by culture pattern, is dominated by an excess of the static masculine such that the ego's experience of the static feminine is utterly truncated or damaged, the weak and embattled ego is vulnerable to being overwhelmed by an acute schizophrenic process in an effort to find the static feminine.
In such acute schizophrenia of a nonparanoid type, the symbolism of hallucinatory and delusional processes follows the pattern of the dynamic feminine in the image of giving way of the existing static masculine world order, through world cataclysm, chaos, and death, to the birth of a new world. At the center of this new world is the fragmented ego personality in an inflated identification with the Self as a messianic figure...
This new world is a utopian manifestation of the static feminine as the divine goddess of nature. That is, the acute schizophrenic process is an attempt to initiate the ego into the static feminine/dynamic masculine polarity, which has not been sufficiently part of its experience. Acute schizophrenia is perhaps the most vivid illustration of the tendency of the dynamic feminine to move toward rebirth in the static feminine, leading to a new order of selfhood and a new authenticity of purpose.
Source: Masculine & Feminine: The Natural Flow of Opposites in the Psyche
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I have found the work of the Jungians to be most insightful in terms of working through and understanding my own experience so this is what I tend to share with others.
Within a Jungian model, schizophrenia and/or psychosis may best be understood as the collapse or fragmentation of the egoic structure; the ego comprises our sense of known identity and also serves to order the larger psyche. When the ego/one's sense of self-identity collapses, content floods forth from the personal and collective unconscious, including archetypal figures thus producing what we call "psychotic content".
Based on what you have shared here I'm going to assume that at some point before this unusual behavior of your husband's began there was an event or series thereof that produced a number of blows to his egoic structure. The archetypal figure that most commonly arises at that point is one that is typically associated with greatness, such as a messiah or redeemer -- what is often interpreted as grandiosity but might be better understood as a heroic effort of the ego to save, redeem and rebirth itself.
In terms of your husband, it may be as if he is in two worlds at the moment -- the first is the "regular" world we might accept as reality; the second is the "mythical, emotionally-laden world" (the dynamic feminine) where god-like archetypal figures reign. The language of that world leans towards the "irrational" and "metaphoric" such as that frequently expressed in music and poetry.
If your husband has been reluctant in the past to work with mainstream clinicians he may be open to working with a Jungian therapist who could help him to better understand the process of ego fragmentation and re-integration. There is also a wealth of free information on the net that can be utilized for self-help purposes.
I think what would be ideal in this instance is if your husband could maintain work, if only in a part-time position, and perhaps attempt to work through this process with your support, various self-help tools, and an empathic therapist. Occasionally, medications such as anti-anxiety agents, anti-depressants and possibly anti-psychotics can be helpful. Your family doctor may be able to offer some assistance in this matter however it's also possible he/she would impose treatment on your husband. Given his past experience, he likely would not be open to the same.
Quote:
The continuing oscillations of compensatory movement from one pole to the other on the static masculine/dynamic feminine polarity is, for the ego personality identified with the static masculine pole, elementally experienced as a conflict between discipline and control and disorder and impulse. For the ego personality identified with the dynamic feminine pole, the conflict is between perfectionistic expectations and standards, and feelings of unworthiness, self-loathing and despair, accompanied by depression and disorienting affects.
Release from a fixation on the static masculine/dynamic feminine polarity lies in a submission to the watery initiations and a resulting shift to the static feminine/dynamic masculine polarity. For the ego personality dominated by the dynamic masculine-feminine pole, this transformation results from giving up perfectionistic expectations and self-loathing in order to dissolve into a loving acceptance of oneself as one is, reflected in the mirror of the static-feminine side of the Self.
For the ego personality dominated by the static-masculine pole, the watery initiation flows from yielding the security of the static-masculine orientation to the terrifying inner experience of disorientation, potential madness, suicidal fantasies and symbolic death. Rebirth in the static feminine is the joyful experience of wholeness, a reconciliation of the static masculine/feminine opposites, which the static masculine has split in its search for perfection.
Source: Masculine & Feminine: The Natural Flow of Opposites in the Psyche
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~ Namaste
See also:
- How To Produce An Acute Schizophrenic Break
- An Outline of Analytical Psychology
.