Myth of Mental Illness

The Myth of Mental Illness

“If you talk to God, you are praying; If God talks to you, you have schizophrenia. If the dead talk to you, you are a spiritualist; If you talk to the dead, you are a schizophrenic.” – Thomas Szasz, ‘The Second Sin: Schizophrenia’ (1973)

This quote from Thomas Szasz, a leading psychiatrist and outspoken critic of coercive psychiatry, and summarises society’s attitude towards people with an alleged mental illness.

He went further in his book ‘The Myth of Mental Illness‘, saying that mental illness was created as we moved out of ‘The Age of Faith’ into ‘The Age of Reason (Madness)’ with the rise in power of science as an influence on social thinking.

His work is “based on the principles that each person has the right to bodily and mental self-ownership and the right to be free from violence from others”.

It is beyond the scope of this post to provide enough evidence of the fact that ‘Mental Illness’ is a myth created by society to keep certain members of our society under control. All I can do is provide you with some information to think about and pointers on where to find more information! People under the ‘care’ of our psychiatric services deserve better assistance, not further abuse.

As we have moved out of The Age of Faith, we can no longer torture and burn witches and heretics. In The Age of Reason, we assess them as being deviant and requiring treatment to make them ‘normal’. They are incarcerated in ‘Treatment Facilities’ and given ‘psychotropic drugs’ to stop them from thinking. We label them as ‘Insane’ and strip them of dignity.

Our current model of treatment and care

Psychiatry is a sub-branch of Allopathic Medicine and, as such, is based on the belief that disorders and malfunctions of the human body are caused by a disorder, or imbalance, of the chemistry of the physical form. With this belief structure, psychiatry believes that a person’s thoughts and behaviour are determined by a person’s inner chemistry. In effect this removes responsibility of the person for their behaviour as they have no control over their chemistry and are a victim of the circumstances of heredity. Their DNA inherited from their family determines how they will think, behave and act.

The Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM) produced by the American Psychiatric Association, is the ‘Bible’ used by all psychiatric services in the Western World to diagnose and treat ‘Mental Illness’. The DSM is currently in its fifth edition. It started as a guide to physicians when in 1840 a condition was identified and named by southern alienists as ‘Drapetomania’, an inexplicable, mad longing of a slave for freedom. This ‘malady’ has since been recognised as a false diagnosis and removed. By the 1880’s, seven conditions were added including; Mania, Melancholia, Monomania, Paresis, Dementia, Dipsomania and Epilepsy. By 2000, the DSM-IV-TR has 365 conditions recognised as ‘Mental Illnesses’.

The DSM is “a medical classification of disorders”. It defines a mental disorder as; “a syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning. Mental disorders are usually associated with significant distress or disability in social, occupational, or other important activities. An expectable or culturally approved response to a common stressor or loss, such as the death of a loved one, is not a mental disorder. Socially deviant behavior (e.g., political, religious, or sexual) and conflicts that are primarily between the individual and society are not mental disorders unless the deviance or conflict results from a dysfunction in the individual, as described above” DSM-V pg-61.

The DSM also determines that these disorders have a classification of disease or illness. This puts these disorders into the realm of having a biological cause. It is believed that imbalances of neuro-transmitters within the brain cause aberrant thoughts and behaviour. It places these conditions into different ‘Axis’.

The main effect that determining ‘mental illness’ has a biological cause and can be treated with pharmacology is that it is no longer a mental illness. When a condition has a physical cause within the brain, it is a Neurological condition and, therefore, falls outside the realm of Psychiatry. A blood test should be able to predict the likelihood of developing the condition and surgery or medication should provide relief, if not, a cure.

So, what is a Mental Illness?

By definition, a mental illness is a condition of the mind that is unhealthy or in a state of disease. It is easy to determine a physical illness because our body ceases to function in a correct way and we experience some loss of function with pain or discomfort as a result. Certain physical markers are able to be detected using blood tests indicating the malfunction.

Does the same definition apply to the mind? When our mind ceases to function in a correct way and we experience some loss of function with pain and discomfort as a result. I would say, “Yes, except there are no blood tests to determine if someone has a mental illness.” If you search online, you will find many ‘promising’ research studies dating back to the 1970’s all with the tag ‘may have found possible links’. But with all of science’s might it has not, and probably will not, be successful in finding a blood test for mental illness.

As to the cause of the malfunction within the mind, I differ markedly from the scientific view. Science would have us believe that errant thinking and behaviour is caused by a genetic predisposition and imbalances of bodily chemistry combined with certain stress factors. For instance, it is believed that Depression is an inherited fault within certain families which causes the levels of serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine to be out of balance. By giving certain medications these levels can be regulated and symptoms relieved. Once the symptoms are controlled, further work can be done to correct errant thought patterns and better stress management techniques.

While this is good in theory, the application of this process is sometimes deficient. Particularly in the public health system. Often, because it is too costly to provide the ongoing support and treatment, there is too great a reliance placed on pharmacology providing a ‘miracle cure’.

For an explanation of the history of the treatment of depression with drugs like ‘Prozac’, have a look at this article.

In my view, the cause of the imbalance of neurotransmitters is the errant thinking or inner belief that leads to aberrant behaviour. As our minds are the creators of our reality, our minds create the changes in brain chemistry as a result. By giving psychotropic medication we can only ever give symptomatic relief because we haven’t changed the underlying thought, belief or value that the person is acting on. This is the mind-spirit connection that controls the physical form.

A mental illness then is not a physical illness but a disorder of the mind and the spirit.

A Spiritual Crisis

There is no blood test for someone going through a Spiritual Crisis. It is by its very nature an individual experience. No two people experience the same thing.

As an example, I was working in an Acute Admissions Ward within a Psychiatric Hospital as a Psychiatric Nurse. During the evening, it became time to dispense the evening medications. The nurse assisting me and I had been discussing some issues around the efficacy of psychiatry and personal experiences. We came to a patient who had been admitted for treatment for a psychotic condition where he believed aliens were talking to him telling him to do all sorts of bad things. The medication caused him to feel numb and he didn’t care so much about the voices (his report of the effects of the medication).

The nurse and I continued our rounds and our discussion shifted to things spiritual. She began telling me that she heard the voices of ‘Angels’ that guided her through her daily activities. Her face visibly brightened when she spoke of her experiences and she found it joyful.

The difference between the two people’s experiences started me thinking. How is it that two people can have ‘auditory hallucinations’, one positive and the other negative? What is the difference? I concluded that the main difference is how the ‘hallucinations’ were perceived and interpreted. As well as the effect they had on the people’s lives. One helped her to function more successfully, the other meant he lost his job and was homeless. Each person had experienced something, perceived it as being of a certain value and created an explanation as to how and why it happened. Each described a period of great turmoil in their lives when their ‘voices’ first appeared, but each dealt with it differently.

Each person experienced ‘psychotic episodes’, because we all know that aliens and angels don’t exist, right!

In their perception of reality, they do. Who are we to say that they did not, or do not, hear what they say they hear? The fact is that they hear voices telling them things. We call it an hallucination because we don’t hear them. It doesn’t mean they aren’t real.

Is the ability to hear or see things other people can’t a sign of mental illness? Obviously their reality is very different to ours. That does not necessarily make them ill or suffering from a disease. My nursing colleague was euphoric from her experiences and obviously benefited from it.

If we accept that these perceptions are real, then it comes down to how they are interpreted to explain the difference in experience.

In my post on Higher Sense Perception, I used an analogy of a computer representing our brain. A computer has a hard drive that records and stores information much like our physical brain. On the hard drive is stored an operating system and software that controls how the computer functions. Our mind (software) and spirit (operating system) pick up information from the brain (hard disk) and the environment via our physical body (the Human Interface Device; keyboard, touchpad) and acts upon it.

If you are running software that is capable of hearing or seeing inter-dimensionally, is it operating effectively when you hear ‘voices’ or see things that ‘aren’t there’. Or, is it malfunctioning?

Even if the computer is bringing back wrong information due to broken code in the operating system (spirit) or software (mind), why try to fix the hard drive (brain) when it is simply the recorder of information? If the code is broken, fix the code. Oh yes! That takes time and effort. Lets just press the reset button or better yet, install a new operating system and update the software. No need to fix the hard drive unless it is physically damaged!

Our current system for treating ‘mental illness’ is trying to fix a brain that is not broken. When a system of treatment is based on a ‘lie’ and treatment decisions are based on that ‘lie’, an act of violence is the result.

A New Operating System

Anyone who has installed a new Operating System on their computer knows how difficult and time-consuming that can be. When it comes to changing your spiritual operating system, and related mind software, it can take years or decades. But with the right guidance and assistance, it is possible.

Particularly in the public health system, we need a new way of treating people in mental and spiritual crisis that does not use systematic coercive violence to help them regain control over their lives. This shift can only happen when we truly respect our fellow travellers and use methods that do not de-humanise and degrade.

We need to be helping people in mental and spiritual crisis not treating them as a set of symptoms or as if diseased!

Shaman’s Journey

The Shaman’s Journey

Each Shaman, or Clever-man/Clever-woman, has their own journey to travel in developing their skills. No two experiences are the same and each must navigate the experience with guidance from spirit.shamans pendant

There are common threads within each story that indicate their vocation to the healing arts. This is something that science, and the science-minded, cannot or will not understand. One story does not fit all! There is no right or wrong, only the experience!

The pendant pictured here is a symbolic summary of that shamanic journey. It was designed by me from my experiences in 1995 and has taken 23 years to come to a point where it can now be printed using 3D Printing technology from Shapeways.

This pendant and others are available at our Dragonweb on Shapeways Store.

The following is a brief explanation of the symbolism behind the design.

The First Level

In each case of shamanic development, a person will experience a crisis of some description that threatens to destroy the person. This crisis is focused in either of the physical, mental or spiritual planes, and flows through to effect all levels of existence. Often this is referred to as the ‘death of the shaman’. The death usually being metaphysical but it can be the physical death. The three deaths of the shaman are; falling, drowning and hanging.First Level symbol

The outer ring symbolises the higher self or super-consciousness and its influence on our lives. It is the divine consciousness.

Falling

The first death of falling can be a physical fall or a metaphysical fall. A physical fall is fairly self evident, whereas a metaphysical fall is symbolic. It can be a fall from grace or as the saying goes, “Pride comes before a fall”. The 16th card of the Tarot displays a fall caused or brought about from a sudden revelation that destroys the ego constructions that we build to form towers of knowledge or rationalisation that support our view of the world.16. Tower

The lightning bolt from the superconsciousness or higher-self destroys those false structures and bring them tumbling down. The return to a more realistic understanding occurs and we again begin to build better structures based on our new understanding. The figures falling represent the male and female consciousness as it descends back to earth.

The Shaman must be comfortable with the destruction of old ways of thinking and be able to recognise thinking constructions based on universal truth.

Drowning

The second death is of drowning and can be a physical drowning event or a meta-physical one. The meta-physical drowning is one where the consciousness becomes totally overwhelmed and the Shaman releases their conscious control and allows the death to occur and the currents take them into a new dimension.death Struggling against the forces influencing the descent into oblivion make the experience more painfull.

Death is a transition from one plane of existence to another. The old body falls away and a new form emerges. The sun rising between the two pillars near the horse’s head indicates the bringing of a new awareness or consciousness.

Hanging

The third death is that of hanging and can be physical or meta-physical. The meta-physical death of hanging usually involves some form of suspension, artificial or temporary hanging, that prevents the continuation along a path.hanged man

To be suspended by the ankle with arms bound behind you indicates an inability to alter the outcome. When you suspend any form of action on your own part to influence the outcome, effects the outcome.

The Hanged Man is also The Dancer from the 22 Card, but inverted, which indicates that this stage is part of the dance of life in harmony with the Universal Consciousness.

This lightning bolt symbol used in the Shaman Pendant indicates those three deaths leading to the transformation of being.

The Second Level

The pendant has 3 concentric rings spaced at 11mm, 22mm, and 33mm from the centre point.Second Level symbol These are the ‘Master Number’ vibrations for the Physical, Mental and Spiritual planes.
The three rings of the second level represent the three planes of existence, or being, of the human experience; Physical, Mental and Spiritual. These are the mind, body and spirit referred to in many ‘New Age’ self help books.

Physical Plane

The physical plane is anything that is manifest into our physical reality and able to be perceived with our physical senses.

Mental Plane

The mental plane is anything that exists in our mental reality and able to be conceptualised with thought. In other words is able to be perceived with our mental senses.

Spiritual Plane

The spiritual plane is anything that exists in our spiritual reality and able to be perceived with our spiritual senses.

The Third Level

The symbol at the third level is common within many cultures but is most recognised within the Christian teachings. It is commonly associated with the ‘Christ Consciousness’.
Third Level symbol

In Druidic and Wiccan symbology this symbol represents the act of rebuilding. To rebuild oneself following death is part of the Shaman’s journey.

In the christian symbol, the central trunk is replaced with a ‘P’ and the horizontal arm removed symbolising ‘The Christ’, with an underlying hexagram shape.

The amulet’s construction of crosses, also gives an indication of an underlying form of the Octogram or octogon. The eight sided polygon represents the eight cardinal directions used in cartography and occult practices.

The north, south, east and west directions are primary directions in many esoteric and religious ceremonies.Symbol shape The offset directions are representative of our state of being when we are ‘off-kilter’. In this state we are no longer directly connected to the universal energy flows of the higher levels of consciousness represented by the outer ring.

The Octogon is also used in the structure of the Bagua or Pagua used in Feng Shui to represent the bringing together of physical and energetic forces.

At the top of the central cross is a triangle with its point to the top.Link one

This orientation of the triangle is usually representative of the masculine or divine energies. It also represents the element of fire in Alchemy.

At the bottom of the central cross is a triangle with its point to the bottom.
Link two

This orientation of the triangle is usually representative of the feminine or earth energies. It also represents the element of water in Alchemy.

At the end of the right arm of the central cross is a Pentagram.
Link three

The pentagram has been associated with the practice of magic. It is also the prime number used in Fibonacci sequencing and fractal geometry.

At the end of the left arm of the central cross is a Septagram or the Magian Star polygon.
Link four

The number seven has long been associated with the spiritual or occult realm.

The Final Level

At the centre of the whole structure bringing the pendant into a central point is the Hexagram Star, or Star of David as it is commonly referred to.
Hexagram Star

The Magen Dawid or Hexagram Star at the centre is commonly accepted within eastern thinking to represent the ‘Heart Chakra’ and in the west to represent the perfect manifestation of divine and earth energies in complete harmony. This is our aim in developing higher sense perceptions to aid in our healing work.

Working from the ‘Heart Chakra’ channeling those energies into another person so they can heal themselves is the aim of the Shaman. We are a channel for the healing energy, not the source of the healing.

For more information and a deeper understanding of the significance of the symbol look at Hexagram on Wikipedia.

The Shaman Journey Pendant, or amulet, is representative of the path of the Shaman in the development and recognition of their vocation.
shamans pendant

Original Spirituality: Out of Australia

Original Spirituality

What is the Original Spiritual belief system that has influenced all religious belief systems? There is a common thread within all religions worldwide, that of the existence of a God (supreme being) or Gods (lesser deities). That we have a soul or inner spiritual connection to the supreme being. What are the origins of a belief in a supreme being? Why are the stories from different cultures so similar?

The earliest monotheistic belief system recorded is Zoroasterism. Sometime around 6300BC, Zarathustra travelled away from his homeland, reportedly into the area now known as India, and studied the Rig-Veda and Gathras of the Hindu faith, as it is now known. What he studied was partly recorded and partly oral tradition. But where did that oral tradition about a supreme being come from?

In his own country, Persia, the people believed in many gods. They had a god for every occasion. They were the gods of the earth spirits, similar to the Wicca spirits, of the weather, trees, water, animals and elementals.

Zarathustra returned home to Persia and began teaching about the one supreme being, Ahura Mazda which in Persian means the ‘Lord of Wisdom’. The supreme being created all things from out of a void. Creating first the earth, then water and air and land. The supreme being was the source of all life.

The Zoroasterian teachings spread throughout the Middle East, Egypt and the Mediterranean, into Africa and the lower parts of Europe. By around 600BC, the Zoroasterian beliefs had been adopted by the Egyptians, was the basis for the Judaism and Islamic faiths and was accepted the Greek philosopher Aristotle as the foundation for his new science.

Could it be that all religious belief systems come from the one source!

But where did the origin of those teachings come from?

In the tradition of the ‘Dreamtime’ of the Aboriginal people of Australia, the oldest oral tradition of a supreme being responsible for the creation of this world has been taught for over 60,000 years. Passed down from generation to generation, the oral tradition of the ‘Dreaming’ has been proven to be incredibly accurate.

According to Evan and Steven Strong on their website, Forgotten Origin, the Aboriginal (original people) spirituality and teachings may be the source of all religious belief systems as it is the oldest recorded belief in a single supreme being who created the earth.egyptian glyphs

They have been able to demonstrate through archealogical finds from around the world and Mitochondrial DNA testing that Aboriginal travellers visited many parts of the world and were visited by people from other lands. For example, the Egyptian hieroglyphs found near Gosford in New South Wales. It is believed that two Egyptians visited the Gosford area approximately 4300 years ago for spiritual guidance, according to the local elders.

Mitochondrial DNA testing has revealed that Aboriginal DNA can be traced back to one of two sources of DNA variants over 400,000 years old. That seems to give credence to Wegener’s theory of Continental Drift where the super continent of Pangea broke in two and Gondwanaland drifted away. Two distinct DNA patterns on two continents. This massive landmass then broke up into Australia, Africa, Antartica, India and South America drifting into their current positions.

The elders of the Original People tell a very similar story. Myth or fact?

 

Ancient Science of Metaphysics

Philosophy and the ancient science of metaphysics

Philosophy

The study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language is the current description for the study of Philosophy. In ancient times, philosophy was the father of all the modern sciences. In trying to understand the human experience the great philosophers examined all manner of things from physics and mathematics to theology and the divine experience.

plato
Plato

Without the enquiring mind of the philosopher and their ‘love of wisdom’, the question of ‘Why did that happen?’ would never have been asked, and the field of science and scientific enquiry would never have begun. It is the philosophers who must guide scientific enquiry to make sure it stays ‘on-track’.

The area of ethical practice in scientific enquiry is of paramount importance because sometimes scientist can lose sight of the forest because they are focusing on a tree. Philosophers try to keep a vision of the ‘big picture’.

The western culture philosophers include; Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, Socrates, Machiavelli, Newton, Einstein and hundreds more.

The eastern culture philosophers include; Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, Lao Tzu, Confucius, Umaswati, Vasubandhu, Ghandi and hundreds more.

Every theological system or religion has a philosopher to thank for their beliefs.

Metaphysics

This is a branch of philosophy that examines the nature of reality and what is beyond the physical. According to Aristotle, there is a need for “a science that studies things (if indeed there are any) that are eternal, not subject to change, and independent of matter. Such a science, he says, is theology, and this is the “first” and “highest” science.” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Aristotle referred to Metaphysics “as ‘first philosophy’, or ‘the study of being qua being’, or ‘wisdom’, or ‘theology’.” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) The ‘being qua being’ is interpreted as involving “three things: (1) a study, (2) a subject matter (being), and (3) a manner in which the subject matter is studied (qua being).” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

So, for me, metaphysics is the first philosophy in the study of the gaining of wisdom in understanding the divine nature of things. It necessitates an awareness of the expression of the divine within the mundane using guidance from ‘Hermes Trismegistus’ and the ‘Emerald Tablet’.

A translation of the Emerald Tablet can be found in Theatrum Chemicum, Volume IV (1613), in Georg Beatus’ Aureliae Occultae Philosophorum:[9][10]

  1. This is true and remote from all cover of falsehood
  2. Whatever is below is similar to that which is above. Through this the marvels of the work of one thing are procured and perfected.
  3. Also, as all things are made from one, by the [consideration] of one, so all things were made from this one, by conjunction.
  4. The father of it is the sun, the mother the moon. The wind bore it in the womb. Its nurse is the earth, the mother of all perfection.
  5. Its power is perfected. If it is turned into earth.
  6. Separate the earth from the fire, the subtle and thin from the crude and [coarse], prudently, with modesty and wisdom.
  7. This ascends from the earth into the sky and again descends from the sky to the earth, and receives the power and efficacy of things above and of things below.
  8. By this means you will acquire the glory of the whole world,
  9. And so you will drive away all shadows and blindness.
  10. For this by its fortitude snatches the palm from all other fortitude and power. For it is able to penetrate and subdue everything subtle and everything crude and hard.
  11. By this means the world was founded
  12. And hence the marvelous conjunctions of it and admirable effects, since this is the way by which these marvels may be brought about.
  13. And because of this they have called me Hermes Tristmegistus since I have the three parts of the wisdom and philosophy of the whole universe.
  14. My speech is finished which I have spoken concerning the solar work
hermes
Hermes Trismegistrus

“For there can be no Religion more true or just, than to know the things that are; and to acknowledge thanks for all things, to Him that made them, which thing I shall not cease continually to do.” Stanza 2, Hermes Trisgestimus Book 1, Divine Pymander.