Wow, Myzen, that's right at the heart of it for me. I've been on about this for a while now, as I have such a genetic example of cross symptom dx's in my own family. Some form of severe mental illness with middle age "onset" travels uninterrupted through my mother's side starting with her mother. No offspring from either of them avoided it, and no two carry the same dx, yet we nearly all carry similar symptoms in different heirarchy.

Also, I think the process you describe is one of expanding conciousness, pure and simple. This to me is the great gift of mental illness. I feel pretty sure that it is incumbent on all human beings to evolve conciously, and those of us with mental illness are ironically forced into it. Disillusionment is painful as a process, but would we cling instead to illusion to avoid it? lol. See what I mean?

I sure like your posts, and only wish I saw more of them. Thanks.