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06-28-2007, 11:26 AM
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 spiritual exeriences and mental illness Hello all, here is something that has bothered me for quite some time, I post it here because I believe in my case , some of my beliefs and and experiences have been totally hijacked by "phsyciatry". and then labelled "mental illness". it is like your personality is being medicated, not your symptoms, physciatry is to quick to take anything of the spiritual nature and call it mania. /or depressive , In my case they don't even acknowledge that just maybe what they call mania, might be misunderstood.. by their own limited schooling.... I was wondering if anyone here has experienced this also?.. do you think the field of physciatry is closed minded,      |
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06-28-2007, 12:48 PM
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 Although I have not experienced this directly, I just read Second Sight by Judith Orloff which might be helpful. In it she talks about her journey as both a psychic and psychiatrist. She also talks about how she relied on medicating patients initially (following the mind-based conventional way) but learned a more balanced and holistic approach over time. Amazon.com: Second Sight: Books: Judith Orloff |
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06-28-2007, 02:49 PM
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Current day Psychiatry is based on a materialistic worldview. Stay away from them. |
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06-28-2007, 08:55 PM
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| I have always wondered about the amount of literature and art that would have been missed if these medications were around in the past. I have been on medications, and there is a lot of over prescribing and not enough behavioral therapy. When I was on meds, it was to treat depression and OCD. The meds in combo with the therapy helped a lot. The best way to describe what it did to me was to cut off a bunch of emotions from the top and a bunch from the bottom and leave me with a little in the middle. So I was left with no depressed, horrible thoughts AND no joyous or creative thoughts. I just didn't feel too much either way. For me, that wasn't going to do. So I worked on my "issues" and gradually came off the meds. They are addicting and that not easy. And I wasn't even on a dosage, they consider addicting and it was rough. In retrospect, it worked for me. And my depression can get bad at times. Could therapy have worked alone? maybe. I have only very recently decided to push my boundries and look into other realities. This comes after reading a bunch on evolution, Ken Wilbur, Einstein and things of that nature. I eventually landed, by chance, at Steve's podcast and have listened to all his podcasts. I have decided to give subjective reality a shot, what could it hurt. I feel very peaceful after doing this. Time will tell if the depression comes back. But a single integral conscious view over an objective view seems to be helping. |
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06-28-2007, 11:16 PM
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the only thing lithium did for me was put a ton of weight on me, made me feel zombie like, ( no emotions at all), and eventually made me feel defeated because of the weight gain but a good faith good therapy with my friends and family helped the most |
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06-29-2007, 04:48 PM
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| Drugs Drugs can be very effective at clearing enough of the mental clutter to allow you to step back and see what it is that you need to change in yourself. That being said, I think long-term use of psychoactive drugs is not a positive thing, as it does alter your mental state and your ability to grow fully. Essentially, they can make your emotional self back off so that your mental self can step back into command where it belongs. Some people do not use them to do this, which leads them to believe that they continue to need the drugs. Behavioral therapy is essentially for the same purpose... teaching you to take back control with your mental self, allowing your emotions to return to their natural state of being supportive instead of dominant. |
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06-30-2007, 12:58 AM
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| Hi Old Soul, I would love to sit down with the lot of you and talk out this topic... In the past I've been in behavoral/cognitive therapy but am currently only on a pretty stout dose of prozac & trazodone. With that disclosure out of the way... In my natural (unmedicated) state I am much more creative and spiritual; Strangers say I 'shine' and people find me eerily perceptive. While that is the upside, the downside is devastating/dark/isolating/hopeless moods that grip me and drag me down. Medication has indeed lopped off those "high notes" and "low notes" but I feel the trade-off for now is something I need to bear. I do miss that magical spiritual world that enveloped me but I do not miss the black-funk that used to side-blind me and suck me dry for months at a time. For now I'm compromising and taking the medications ("for now" meaning the past 8-10 years.) Behavorial and cognitive just wasn't enough... hopefully someday it will be. It's nice to fit in and function as I do now... but it's lonely too. Interesting topic! Swansong |
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06-30-2007, 05:34 AM
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 wisdom in the darkness? After many years of traditional medications, two hospitalizations and various therapies for my pitiful state, I gave up. I hadn't a clue what was wrong with me and apparently, neither did anyone else. I was so confused and in the depths of despair and could do nothing to change it. The emotional and physical pain was unbearable. The only way I was able to bear it was that, 'I reasoned if my mind got me into this mess, then it could bloody well get me out of it'. I faced my fears and all the terrible feelings associated with it. During these horrific periods of blackness I cultivated what I term as 'home-grown wisdom'. Knowledge and insights that I believe I would not have gained otherwise. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this? |
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06-30-2007, 11:35 AM
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Meloncholy Blue's Somedays are filled with golden sunshine and somedays are a meloncholy blue Those are the days when you can't find your smile in anything you might say or do Yet you carry one with life's journey carrying all your joys and pains perhaps learning a few of lifes lesson and wisdom is what you gain Maybe without the storms of life that attribute to the meloncholy blues I would never have found my strength and courage to make it through! |
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07-01-2007, 11:58 AM
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| Hmmm, I dont want to sound pessimistic but to reply to your thread I have to say go to any mental health proffesional and tell them that you hear positive guidance in your head{clairaudience} and listen to their reply. I dont think you'll be impressed. I don't reply much anymore on this site because I feel its being bogged down by the same old crap over and over again, but as a fellow "old soul" I feel your questions deserve straightforward answers. I know what I know and theres no use bashing people over the head with it. Swansong I went through what you'r going through now and found that I had to find the star within myself that was the true me, without meds. Once found and recognized there is more than enough love and life inside ourselves, and even a bit for everyone else. Peace u guys |
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07-01-2007, 05:49 PM
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| A real can o' worms here, Old Soul! I see the "mentally ill" as the canaries in the coal mine. If the sitcheashun ain't good for the canaries, it ain't good for the miners neither. Lots of canaries keeling over these days. We might want to think more deeply about all this. A pity that the Scientologists highjacked the issue--makes it harder to look at objectively.
__________________ The fact is that scientific knowledge and spiritual knowledge are already married. --Muktananda |
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07-01-2007, 06:04 PM
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Here's a hint. These moods are not you, but rather your reactions to societies strange "truths". |
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07-02-2007, 03:45 PM
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| Ah yes...society's strange truths. At some point, is a well-adjusted person really...insane?
__________________ The fact is that scientific knowledge and spiritual knowledge are already married. --Muktananda Last edited by Megan : 07-02-2007 at 07:22 PM. |
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07-02-2007, 05:23 PM
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07-02-2007, 11:22 PM
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| I was fighting 'mental illness' for several years to no avail. It came down to a choice of becoming a conforming zombie or a non-conformist screaming painfilled 'nutter'. I chose the latter and it came at a huge cost. However, once I took responsibilty for my agony a new picture began to emerge. A spiritual picture. An aspect of life I was previously unaware of. Eventually I realized I was in spiritual crisis. The truth for me was that I was undergoing many internal changes and the pain was the pathway. There are many perspectives on 'mental illness' and I believe each is as unique as a fingerprint. No one knows you as well as you know yourself. You have to draw your own conclusions. |
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07-02-2007, 11:34 PM
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07-03-2007, 12:22 AM
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| Great topic, and one very close to my heart/mind. I had an experience which the doctors called bi-polar and psychotic. I KNEW it was spiritual. Turns out it was Kundalini rising. In the three years since, I have experienced a spiritual rebirth. During this time, I experienced depression, and confronted my great fear that I WAS crazy. My take on mental illness is that it is our SOUL crying out for help. Our brain stops functioning well and we feel AWFUL because we are completely out of alignment with our internal truth. It's a huge wake-up call to make some pretty big changes in one's life. Medication and therapy can help support these changes, but ultimately, they only treat the symptoms of mental illness and not the cause. We are spiritual beings, and our mind is just a tool, like our hands or our arms. Just like too much pressure on a leg the wrong way can break it... so can too much pressure on the mind the wrong way "break" it. It was really tough to dig out my true self, because this self perceived the world so differently from the 'norm'. It brought up a lot of fear about being an outsider, not fitting it... etc. But now that I am here, I am SO glad I have had the courage to walk this path. That blackness we experience is there for a reason. It's a motivating force calling us to confront our truths and LIVE those truths. That so many of us are experiencing mental illness speaks to me of the collective calling our of our Souls... it is time to wake up, to know the Self as Consciousness. When it comes to dealing with mental illness and seeing it as an opportunity to awaken the True Self, behavioural and cognitive is not always going to be enough. This approach doesn't work with the consciousness - that part of you that IS the divine, is God, is All. I found yoga and meditation absolutely invaluable in my rebirthing experience - both taught me that I am not my mind, nor my emotions, nor my body. I am the eternal all that is, as are You. I have written extensively about this on my site if anyone's interested. Much joy, KL |
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07-03-2007, 03:05 AM
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| Our "shared reality" is destroying the ecosystem. So maybe people who opt out of the corporate insanity have already done some soul searching, but just haven't had much support for it and feel pretty lost and alone. Quote:
__________________ The fact is that scientific knowledge and spiritual knowledge are already married. --Muktananda |
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07-03-2007, 05:15 AM
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| Years ago, I conducted a research project that examined the evolution of perceptions and understanding of the psychiatric illness MPD over a period of 60 years. I based this research on North America and drew from professional interviews, popular culture films, texts and case studies. Although the extensive project referred to many sources, its still only one perspective. Results revealed that social stigmas highly-influenced public and health professional perceptions of mental illness and treatment. Many biochemical, environmental, socio-cultural and holistic approaches psychiatry still exist. Another thought-provoking view of the perception of psychiatry and the question of over-medication of Ritalin in children can be seen here: Justification of restriction - Dream Builders - Dream Builders direct you to find Financial Freedom through Motivation and Goal Setting |
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07-03-2007, 01:12 PM
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07-03-2007, 01:44 PM
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| Spiritual goal I really would like an insight as to the effect of spiritual rebirthing. I am most interested in the new you. Has anything changed besides feelings? Quote:
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