okiedokie: I see from your profile that you use "spriritual emergency" as a synonym for schizophrenic and/or psychosis and/or mental breakdown. I'm really having trouble with your logic for many reasons but frankly, am too tired to list them all here, now. What I do find concerning is that you seem to try to merge many concepts into only one construct. You write of shamanism, spiritual rupture, altered consciousness, psychosis as mind-healing, even kundalini energy as interchangeable with schizophrenia. The one thing I do concur with is that societal definitions of all of the above vary by culture.

In an earlier post I made as related to Spiritual Interventions in Psychotherapy, one of the participants, alexandra k noted: "I was getting a little concerned that the suggestion was that people who experience themselves as having a spiritual crisis were now regarded as being mentally disordered!!!!!!!!!!!!!!". In response, I offered the following brief description:<blockquote>As our outer and inner worlds dissolve, we lose our sense of reference. There arises a great sense of unease, leading into a realm of fear and terror. "Where is there any security? Wherever I look, things are dissolving."

We can experience this dissolution and dying within our own body. We may look down and see pieces of our own body seeming to melt away and decay, as if we were a corpse. As the realm of terror deepens, periods of paranoia may arise. In this stage, wherever we look, we become fearful of danger...</font></blockquote>How do you think you might respond okiedokie, to an individual who was paranoid, fearful and whose body (to them) appeared to be melting away and decaying to the extent that they experienced themselves as a skeleton? The process described above is well known within Buddhist circles as "ego death". It is considered to be a stage in the Higher Samadis and associated with long-term meditation practices. To those who have never been exposed to the process however, it looks very much like psychosis or the experience of someone diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

Here is another example...<blockquote>Interdisciplinary dialogue within these particular schools of psychology has now established some common criteria in order to describe this condition. Motor symptoms are thought to include tremors, shaking, spontaneous or involuntary body-movements and changes in respiratory function. Sensory symptoms are thought to include changes in body-temperature, a feeling of energy running along the spine or progressing upwards in the body, a feeling of electricity in the body, headache and pressure inside of the head, tingling, vibrations and gastro-intestinal problems. Cognitive and affective symptoms are thought to include psychological upheaval, stress, depression, hallucinations (inner visions or acoustical phenomena), depersonalization or derealization, intense mood-swings, altered states of consciousness, but also moments of bliss and deep peace.</blockquote>The above process is associated with the practice of yoga and is known as <a href=http://www.haryana-online.com/Culture/kundalini.htm>kundalini syndrome</a>. Someone familiar with spiritual practices in Hindu culture might be aware of that syndrome, someone who is not might make a different assessment.

Another vignette for your consideration...<blockquote>"I then felt some part of myself slip down through the crack in the pavement, down to the underworld, while another part of myself remained upon the pavement. I am currently trying to make further sense of this experience in relation to Ancient Egyptian belief, as, certainly during the early dynasties, they had a working knowledge of the Land of the Dead, much of which has been fortunately rediscovered, and is known to us as The Egyptian Book of the Dead."

-- David</blockquote>David is a diagnosed schizophrenic, although the experience he describes is known within some cultures and settings as a shaman's initiation.

Another participant in that earlier thread I mentioned, sunrise, immediately recognized that I was discussing a branch of psychology known as transpersonal psychology -- The simplest definition is that transpersonal psychology is spiritual psychology. It recognizes that humanity has both drives toward sex and aggression and drives toward wholeness, toward connecting with and experiencing the divine.

My own experience began with an episode of intense fear and a desire to "go underground". If I was to map that out on a schizophrenic model it would be recognized as falling within the prodromal phase of a full-blown episode of psychosis. For me, that episode came many months later. It lasted approximately six weeks and I was accompanied through it by a mentor who served as my therapist. Both God and the Devil did make a cameo appearance. Meanwhile, by the time that experience was done, it wouldn't have taken much to convince me that my mentor could walk on water. I adored him, and had no difficulty in expressing that to him via some rather tender acts that just might make some readers blush.

Following that episode, I then went through a stage of intense withdrawal during which I was not able to function as I had previously. I didn't shower, I didn't change my clothes, I wasn't capable of working. I didn't seem to care about anything around me and I sometimes had difficulty determining if I was dead or alive. That stage lasted roughly a year in length although elements of it are still with me, even now, five years later. For example, it has been difficult to reinvest my faith in a world that I once invested in very heavily. It has been difficult to come to terms with the harsh reality that death, pain, suffering, grief, loss -- these are all part of the human experience and I'm not going to be able to avoid that reality any more than anyone else can. It has been difficult to come to terms with aspects of my experience that some might label as "extraordinary" or "gifted" when I find it difficult enough simply to be human.

Anyone who has read the summary of my experience will have no difficulty recognizing the aspects that could be identified as psychosis and/or schizophrenia. Yet my experience also contained a number of other elements which I've referred to in the thread: What's in a name...?.

Those who identify most closely with the medical model of psychosis and schizophrenia seem to find my experience to be a discomforting one, because it doesn't fit neatly into the box they have in mind. They can easily accept the "psychotic" aspects of my experience but they don't know what to do with the parts that hang over the edge that might fit into other boxes: shamanism, mysticism, alchemy, kundalini syndrome, ego death, individuation. A few people do grasp those aspects immediately however. Typically, they're either familiar with those cultures and settings (e.g. Buddhist/Hindu) or they have a background in one of two disciplinary streams: depth psychology or transpersonal psychology.

okiedokie: Having said that, have you perhaps considered that you may still be suffering from schizophrenia and only comfort yourself with the notion that it is some sort of a spiritual awakening?

You may be right. How would we go about determining if you actually are? How would we test the reality of that hypothesis?

okiedokie: I am concerned that someone with schizophrenia may see your posts and elect to not treat their illness by conventional means, i.e. by seeing a doctor...

It is worth noting that the article excerpts above are all by doctors or are highlighting the work of same: Dr. John Weir Perry; Dr. R.D. Laing; Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, and Dr. Maureen Roberts.

Meanwhile, I've noted on your own profile that you also identify yourself as a "professional" -- I'm assuming you mean within the fields of psychology or psychiatry. For that reason, I suggest you review the following article: From Spiritual Emergency to Spiritual Problem: The Transpersonal Roots of the New DSM-IV Category. It is one that any professional should be aware of, particularly if they work with those who have had experiences identified as psychosis and/or schizoprenia within this culture and setting.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts -- I've enjoyed the exchange and hope you have too. May your dreams be pleasant ones.

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