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Schizophrenia

Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
We all go through rough patches at different times in life. When a family member is dealing with a tough time, it’s not always easy to know how to support them.

When we’re really distressed, stuff happens in our body and brain that makes it hard to think logically and see things clearly. That means it’s especially helpful to have an outside person there for support.

Here are some tips on how to be there for someone who’s going through a lot.

https://headspace.org.au/blog/supporting-someone-through-a-difficult-time/

All the best!
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
The links in one of those sites -

I was talking with someone last night, and I was impressed by the good fortune she'd had in finding "spiritual caretakers." This is my latest definition (I know, I should be making a glossary for all the terms I make up), and it's a very different role than a spiritual guide or teacher. The spiritual caretaker is a person who creates space for someone to have their awakening. It's a sacred role, and it's one that probably isn't much talked about. So, now, I'm talking about it and why it's important to find a spiritual caretaker. I'm also talking about it because it's also a beautiful role to fulfill if you happen to be one.

Spiritual Caretakers During an Awakening
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
Nervous Breakdowns Versus Spiritual Awakenings - makes for an interesting search! -

I'm sure some spiritual teachers would say that there's no difference, but from what I've seen so far, there are some important distinctions between a nervous breakdown and a spiritual awakening. A spiritual awakening brings so much energy with it that there's a very different feel to it. A nervous breakdown can be the crumpling of an ego that just goes into another ego-state--self-pity, victimhood, and others. Nervous breakdowns may also be a chemical imbalance in the body, and just because life is crappy doesn't mean you're have a spiritual awakening. Not how I'm discussing it today anyway.

Ultimately, any situation can be an excuse to let go into an awakened state, but for this blog post, you have to understand that awakening brings with it a tremendous love of life. The breakdown that follows for people is much more about the dismay of what you're carrying inside or how difficult it appears for you to live in this state of love and bliss in such a dysfunctional world. It may look like depression, but it's much more dynamic on the inside. Only someone moving through an awakening can really know what's going on inside, although those of us who have moved through it can sense what's happening almost immediately.

Spiritual Caretakers During an Awakening
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
How A Mental Breakdown Can Lead To A Spiritual Awakening

How A Mental Breakdown Can Lead To A Spiritual Awakening - Watkins

Looks an excellent site for many books ...

Traditionally we see mental breakdowns as negative things that as a society we try our best not to talk about. But while they can be greatly disturbing Breaking Down is Waking Up author Dr Russell Razzaque believes that breakdowns can also offer a profound journey to spiritual awakening.

Did you know, for example, that three quarters of people who have had an experience of severe mental illness now consider themselves to be highly spiritual? Here Dr Razzaque explains the awakening we can all go through, but first we have to clarify – who is it that goes on a spiritual journey? What exactly do we mean when we say ‘I’?

For the gang - as if I aint sent enough this week :)
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
Much needless suffering results from ignorance of the multidimensional nature of the human personality, human psyche or "human nature". Insights on the nature of human nature are revealed by combining Western scientific research with new concepts provided by Eastern psychologies such as Buddhism. These insights can be applied to the study of the healthy healing process involving psychic overload of uncontrollable spiritual growth i.e. spiritual emergency or so-called 'schizophrenia'. Schizophrenia is not a 'mental illness' but an intense transpersonal or "spiritual" experience involving spiritual awakening or "spiritual emergence".

It is a chaotic and uncontrollable self-organizing process which represents positive transformation of the self and has been designated as a psychospiritual crisis or 'spiritual emergency'. The apparent 'craziness' of spiritual emergency reveals the passage into a higher consciousness state required for effective adaptability. The result is so-called 'individuation', 'self-realisation', 'self-actualisation', 'spiritual renewal' or 'rebirth' and represents the affirmation of a life of total well-being or 'high level wellness'. Spiritual emergency is a part of the human condition and involves the 'beyond ego' or 'transpersonal' dimension of human nature. It is therefore a concern of so-called 'depth psychology', also known as 'spiritual psychology' or 'transpersonal psychology'.

Schizophrenia has been described as a nonspecific disease by the psychiatric profession. This supposedly devastating condition was originally named by the German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin (1856-1926). Kraepelin believed that the condition involved an irreversible mental deterioration and coined the term 'dementia praecox' - Latin for 'prematurely out of one's mind'. It later became clear that the term was a misnomer and a new term was coined in 1910 by Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler (1857-1939) who was noted for his kindness and humanity. Bleuler was the teacher of Carl Jung and professor of psychiatry at the University of Zürich where he headed the famous Burghölzli Clinic. Since the condition seemed to involve a mental split between thought and emotion, Bleuler coined the term 'schizophrenia' for 'splitting of the mind'. The term is derived from German 'schizophrenie' from Greek 'skhizein' meaning 'to split' and 'phren' of unknown origin meaning 'heart or mind'. According to Greek etymology, "schizophrenia" actually means 'broken soul' or 'broken heart".

Forgot where I pasted that from ... I think it was a forum??? - try -

Much needless suffering ignorance multidimensional nature human personality

A couple of forums actually ...

But this one tops the list -

https://www.holisticeducator.com/spiritualemergence.htm

A million links?

:)
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
From a newly re-vamped site? - recovery from psychiatry -

As I’ve written before, and however backwards it might sound, today, I am grateful to those doctors, even to the first psychiatrist who threw me on Depakote and Prozac as a young teenager. I’m grateful to the locked wards and the internalized oppression and the security-blanket dependency on my “meds” and their numbing and disconnecting effects, because all of it has allowed me to become who I am today: a thirty-year old woman with a life ahead of her, who feels the full spectrum of human feelings and an authentic sense of self and purpose. Had I never found Anatomy of an Epidemic, had I never felt that tiny spark of fire in my belly that told me to take my life back and stand up against my seven-person “treatment team” when they disagreed with my desire to come off psych drugs, and had I never been determined with every ounce of my being to move through all the pain that came along with it, not only would I not have this exciting life ahead of me, but I wouldn’t be alive at all. I know this to be true.

For the full story -

Finding the Meaning in Suffering: My Experience with Coming off Psychiatric Drugs (in a Nutshell) — Laura Delano

All the best!
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
Buddhism & Psychotherapy -

AABCAP has put together a general recommended reading and resources list to help those who are interested in the interface between Buddhism and Psychotherapy find their way into what is available. While there are many books on the market, this document represents a fine selection of well-known authors and old and new classics.

Click here to view or download a PDF of the list.

All the best!
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
Forest Sangha books?

Esp - Living Dhamma by Ajahn Chah - a pdf version is there along with several others!

Enjoy!
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
You wouldn’t tell someone with cancer to just “get over” their illness, so why aren’t people with mental health disorders afforded the same courtesy?

A common plague of mental health stigma is the idea that the disorders are a fallacy that’s “all in a person’s head.” In reality, mental illness is far from a person’s control, and only 25 percent of people with a mental illness feel like others are understanding or compassionate about their condition, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More of this article -

Lindsay Holmes | Mental Health & Happiness

Enjoy!
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
Scrolling down that webpage -

Here are some concrete ways to practice self-compassion:

· Ask yourself what you would say to a close friend in the situation

· Give yourself permission to be imperfect and still be good enough.

· Strive to cultivate acceptance of all of yourself – not just the joyful, positive parts.

· Approach situations with curiosity, rather than judgment.

· Develop a self-compassion mantra that involves the three components listed above.

· Write yourself a letter from the perspective of someone who loves you.

· Speak kindly to yourself during both “good” and “bad” moments.

Self-compassion isn’t about making our pain or suffering go away; it’s about learning to be with it, and with ourselves in it, more kindly and lovingly. I hope this summary of self-compassion sparks something within you, or inspires you to practice it as you encounter your own moments of struggle in life. Being human isn’t easy, and being our own worst critic is the last thing we need during moments of suffering. We all deserve our own kindness and compassion, and it’s a tool we can all add to our kit and carry with us as we navigate our daily lives.

Cheers!
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
Another email -

Over the last ten years, I’ve spent a lot of time investigating the phenomenon of spiritual awakening. In my PhD thesis, for example, I investigated the cases of 25 people who believed that they had undergone spiritual awakening. I examined the apparent causes or triggers of their transformation, the characteristics of their new state, and what kinds of changes it had generated in their attitudes and lifestyles. Since then, I’ve investigated many other cases, including a group of around 32 people who had powerful transformational experiences following periods of intense psychological turmoil, the majority of which could be classed as a permanent, ongoing ’awakening.’

For the rest -

Breakdowns and ‘Shift-Ups’

The blog is called out of the darkness!
 
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