(Acute) psychosis as healing

[Carnap]

I know that modern psychology would have the tendency to diagnose psychotic breaks as on one of the bipolar/schizophreniform spectrums. However, Freud saw psychosis as the ego rejecting ideas not compatible with itself. And Jung thought psychosis was ridden with mythical archetypes and themes and had a healing power.

I know there are a lot of fans of Jung on this site. Do any of you have any more details to share with me?

I think psychosis is fascinating. A lot of it has religious, erotic, violent themes and physical sensations.

 

[Beat Mango]

I think in modern society, with its love of positivity and materialism, does tend to shun that which is "dark", possibly in some cases to its detriment. This might be one of those instances (I am just speculating however, I don't know enough about psychosis, certainly not from experience. )

 

[Enne]

I was reading up on the theory of positive integration, which stipulates that some sort of psychological trauma is usually essential to attain further growth. I have to say from experience that things like depression can and do serve as an essential point of focus, provided that you don't slip into permanent despair, that can act as a gateway to more fulfilling personal choices.

 

[Sapphire Harp]

I think psychosis is fascinating. A lot of it has religious, erotic, violent themes and physical sensations.

I don't think I quite know the manifestations and extent of what you mean by psychosis, really... I'm turning to wikipedia, which suggests:

People experiencing psychosis may report hallucinations or delusional beliefshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delusion, and may exhibit personality changes and disorganized thinking. This may be accompanied by unusual or bizarre behavior, as well as difficulty with social interaction and impairment in carrying out the activities of daily living.
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If a psychotic disorder is helpful, it has to be recovered from and recognized for what it is, right? Would you describe it as re-breaking a badly healed bone to re-set it? (Assuming its poor healing from some earlier issue is what led to a psychotic episode?)
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[Carnap]

Back to this :

Psychosis can be seen sometimes as the ego being displaced and then you see the emergence of archetypes from deeper consciousness, thus religious 'delusions' of schizophrenics, bipolars, etc.

 

[Artifice Orisit]

Psychosis can be seen sometimes as the ego being displaced and then you see the emergence of archetypes from deeper consciousness, thus religious 'delusions' of schizophrenics, bipolars, etc.

Perhaps this is just a natural progression from sentience, from having the capacity to recognise the concept of self we have also gained the highly questionable ability to influence that self based upon our will. Now we find ourselves lost and confused, trying to find truths which may not necessarily exist, ambiguous answers that make the questions seem moot.

 

[Reverse Transcriptase]

I was reading up on the theory of positive integration, which stipulates that some sort of psychological trauma is usually essential to attain further growth. I have to say from experience that things like depression can and do serve as an essential point of focus, provided that you don't slip into permanent despair, that can act as a gateway to more fulfilling personal choices.

Enne, great explanation!

I went through a "positive integration" moment that left my extremely humbled, and with a clear view about what my problems were. This was two years ago.

I also can't help but remember a documentary about LSD being used with people who had mental problems. A single strong dose of LSD was given to the patient and... well, it wasn't exactly fun for the patient. LSD pushes you to really focus on yourself and your problems. The patients essentially had a "bad trip", but the bad trip was a good experience in the end because the patients would have to face their fears and problems, and come up with solutions to them. With a 8-hour trip, you don't have anything else to do!

Also, LSD is an efficient way to cause psychosis.

Before any of you ask, no I wasn't on LSD during my positive integration moment.

 

[Vrecknidj]

I think that any insights that can be gained via psychosis probably could be gained by less painful (and potentially less dangerous) means, except perhaps in a few cases where the person concerned is already so emotionally damaged that there remain no safe means for the exploration of the Self. (Of course, this may be because the person is so damaged that the survival of the organism is all that can be maintained.)

Anyway, I myself have learned a lot through my own healing of neuroses and through having suffered from depression and from having seen loved ones on the edge of oblivion from depression. I do, in fact, think that certain conditions (especially depression) can be seen as gifts rather than as negatives. For people for whom a return to health is reasonable and likely, I think that suffering is in fact a great catalyst for growth.

Dave