Spiritual emergence: one way of interpreting activity of the psyche that is often labeled psychotic

One could just as easily call these phenomena existential crisis of the psyche. Spiritual emergence is only one way of viewing and understanding this phenomena. When it comes to understanding the psyche it’s often helpful to use many different models. The psyche is also one with the body.

The most famous person who has gone through a spiritual emergence, and documented it, was Carl Jung see: another drug-free recovery from psychosis

It’s worth considering that “psychosis” and spiritual emergence are exactly the same thing. The imaginary line between “spiritual emergence” and “psychosis” (ecstatic dance, too) – Everything matters

Carl Jung himself said:

I had the feeling that I was in an over-compensated psychosis, and from the feeling I was not released until August 1, 1914. (see here for context)
Carl Jung

If you read The Red Book, it’s clear that what Jung was experiencing would have been labeled psychotic by any self-respecting psychiatrist today.

From Wikipedia, a definition:

Spiritual crisis (also called “spiritual emergency”) is a form of identity crisis where an individual experiences drastic changes to their meaning system (i.e., their unique purposes, goals, values, attitude and beliefs, identity, and focus) typically because of a spontaneous spiritual experience. A spiritual crisis may cause significant disruption in psychological, social and occupational functioning. Among the spiritual experiences thought to lead to episodes of spiritual crisis or spiritual emergency are psychiatric complications related to existential crisis, mystical experience, near-death experiences, Kundalini syndrome, paranormal experiences, religious ecstasy and meditation or other spiritual practices (Grof & Grof, 1989; Turner, Lukoff, Barnhouse, & Lu, 1995).

At the bottom of this post there is also links to websites of interest as well as books.

● That which gets labeled psychiatric illness is rarely only one thing…we are holistic beings

●  Psychosis or Spiritual Awakening: Phil Borges at TED

●  A psychiatrist speaks: Breaking Down is Waking Up

● Making the Unconscious Conscious: Embracing the Dark Night of the Soul

● Madness as a reckoning of one’s own psyche. Yes .

● More on “Rethinking Madness: Towards a Paradigm Shift in our Understanding and Treatment of Psychosis”

● Spiritual aspects of psychosis and recovery

● Sean’s experience with manic psychosis and the transformation that followed

● Mystical experiences, spiritual emergency, madness etc… – includes video

● Dr. Edward Whitney’s manic psychosis that resolved itself with a spiritual understanding

● The heroines journey –recovery using Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung

● Hope, Time and Love; three guardian angels: Alternative Routes to Recovery

● An Intimate Walk through the Labyrinth of Madness and Mysticism

● Spiritual emergence: when psychosis is a transformative process

●   Psychosis, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Story as a Vehicle of Healing

● We are all shamans in training

● Spiritual Emergence — David Lukoff

● Mania as spiritual awakening

● Soul in Crisis: why cultural healing must replace the “mental illness” fiction

● Mania and psychosis as purposive

● “Madness” as a spiritual and awakening journey

● Mania as spiritual emergency

● Acute psychosis in mania and schizophrenia

● Mania as Spiritual Emergency: psychotic process being one of the psyche demanding to be paid attention to therefore and healed

● Mania as spiritual emergency (another recovery story)

● Links to articles that look at the Shamanic-like nature of consciousness

● What happens if we listen to the mental anguish of others? (healing occurs)

● In the Fellowship of His Suffering: A Theological Interpretation of Mental Illness – A Focus on ”Schizophrenia”

● Psychiatric drug withdrawal, kundalini and shamanic initiatory illness

● 7 Billion Paths to Awakening: healing from what is often called psychosis

● Herbal medicine, Extreme States and Transformation

More related collections:

Websites:

Spiritual Emergency
Spiritual Recovery
A Jungian approach to psychosis
Jung Circle
Spiritual Compentency — David Lukoff
Soteria House—drug free healing house for those in psychosis
Spiritual Emergence (help, information and referral in Canada)
Holistic Recovery from Schizophrenia: a mother and son journey

Books:

Rethinking Madness Towards a Paradigm Shift in our Understanding and Treatment of Psychosis ~ Paris Williams
Psychosis and Spirituality: Consolidating the New Paradigm ~ Isabel Clarke
Spiritual Emergency: When Personal Transformation Becomes a Crisis ~ Stan Grof
Trials of the Visionary Mind (SUNY Series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology) ~ John Weir Perry
Soteria: Through Madness to Deliverance ~ Dr. Loren Mosher and Voyce Hendrix
The Stormy Search for the Self: A Guide to Personal Growth through Transformational Crisis ~ Stan and Christina Grof
The End of Your World: Uncensored Straight Talk on the Nature of Enlightenment ~ Adyashanti
Am I Bipolar or Waking Up? ~ Sean Blackwell
In Case of Spiritual Emergency: Moving Successfully Through Your Awakening ~ Catherine Lucas

See: Psychiatric drug withdrawal and protracted withdrawal syndrome round-up

For a multitude of ideas about how to create a life filled with safe alternatives to psychiatric drugs visit the drop-down menus at the top of this page.