Schizophrenia or Spiritual Awakening?

[Yorick]

Originally posted by chimaera: To complicate the discussion further [img]graemlins/firedevil.gif[/img] Your perception of the world is based on the sensory information processed by your brain - and if your brain is functioning incorrectly...

That's a very strange problem those people have....

[Yorick]

Originally posted by chimaera: Considering the number of dictionaries available on the web, no.

Now, now.... be nice. He's asking for an illuminative opinion on the dictionary definition. He's articulated his worldview and why he's rejected certain "foundational truths". I for one would be interesting in hearing you reply. [img]smile.gif[/img] I enjoyed the link you provided. Thanks for contributing. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[chimaera]

But that is assuming that my opinion is illuminative.

[Yorick]

I'm sure it will be.... (chants) post post post!

[chimaera]

Here it goes (bear in mind that my english skills are not always correct ): correct/incorrect functioning of brain is, IMHO, the ability/inability to carry out its tasks.

[Nightwing]

Chimaera, people who experience this talk about a duelist existance. So their brain may be letting them accomplish something is their spirit world and at the same time diconecting them from the material world. The theory is their brain still functions but its receptors are perceiving something completly different than what we see. Again this is just for some not 100%.

[chimaera]

Nightwing - check the link.
You are not aware of what your receptors are perceiving, but only of the results of the brain processing that sensory information.

[Timber Loftis]

Note: a dualist existence is different than, but not incompatible with, a duelist existence.

[Aelia Jusa]

Originally posted by Nightwing: Well put Aelia and very true. But are the hallucinatory or delusionary episodes distressing because of the stigma society puts on mental illness. This is a gradual process and if there was no stigma people would be more open to explore these images. I'm not saying it's for everyone but I think there are a lot of severe cases that could have been avoided with the right understanding.

Good points, but usually, no. They are distressing because of what the voices say, or what they see. It is very common, for example, for the voice to talk about harm being done to someone the sufferer loves, or encouraging them to harm themselves. Paranoid delusions often involve very frightening beliefs that people are following/watching/trying to harm the person. So while I definitely agree that in all mental illness or similar phenomonen (e.g. someone who is psychic) a significant proportion of the distress experienced is because they perceive themselves as different and open to ridicule or ostracism or worse, most people suffereing schizophrenia can attribute a much larger proportion of their distress to the actual content of their psychotic episodes.

[Nightwing]

A little more on the background of this school of thought. In reading this though, I wonder if Jung was so successful in his treatments why didn't it catch on. My theory is it was to late and behaviorism was to established. http://www.jungcircle.com/exile.html