Theoretical Perspectives on Mental Illness
WJ Duke, PhD
It is
no exaggeration to say that mental illness is in a huge morass of ignorance and
cruelty. Though it seems to have
improved some from its inhumane ways of 100 years past, it is still an area,
where inhumanity to humans is the very fabric of its nature, and
treatment. What more can be done? From within the field, there is really precious
little that can be done, since there is no knowledge complete enough to bring
out the light. So we must look beyond
the field for a solution.
First
of all, we must look to a field which has complete knowledge of the mind. It is not possible to have a remedy for a
disturbance of the mind without full knowledge of the mind. As obvious as this is, this is a requirement.
There
is no reason to dwell in the huge literature in the field of mental illness,
and all the various texts both current and in recent past, because all of these
have one common element -- they all lack a complete knowledge of the mind, and
thus they are flawed even before they begin.
Darkness has been the very fabric of life for so long,
we have grown accustomed to thinking that it must always be so. Nor do we need to spend any significant time,
enumerating all the various words, phrases, technical jargon, which has all but
obscured the possibility of any real solution.
When you are in darkness, even the light seems to be painful. (Recall Plato’s story of those trapped in a
cave for so long, that when they learned they could leave the cave the light
was painful to them, to such a degree that they chose to remain in the cave.
Such is the condition of the recent past.)
But now
we, by the grace of the masters are in possession of knowledge complete enough
to allow us to move forward toward solution that will really remove this blight
from the inhumanity of man.
Our
start will be very simple and straight forward.
We do not need to dwell in the darkness about the mind to any
extent. Now we know how the mind works,
and how it interacts and dwells in the body.
To wit:
"As
long as the mind is discontented it continues to be active. When the nervous system is tired on the level
of the senses it fails to experience the outer world of the waking state. But because
the mind desires to be active, another part of the nervous system then becomes
active and stimulates the subtler regions of the senses which are not commonly
used in experiencing the waking state, giving rise to the illusory experiences
of the dream state. When functioning on
this level for some time the subtler regions of the nervous system become tired, and the ability to perceive illusory experiences is
lost. This gives rise to a state of no
experience, that of deep sleep." (SOB MMY)
This view
of the range of functioning of the normal system, will
be used to characterize the deranged mental state. In the case of the mentally
ill, the situation is altered only slightly, but because of the deeply complex
nature of the nervous system, the characteristics may seem to be markedly
different.
The
nervous system has been pushed to a fatigued state by the commands from the
discontented mind and demands from the outside environment - family, job,
society, even poor food, to such a degree that, instead of the subtler levels
of the physical nervous system producing the dream state, the gross sensory
levels remain functioning but weakened.
They then become open to and influenced by the presence of the operation
of the subtler regions of the nervous system, giving rise to a non-normal state
- mixed state. But instead of a complete
dream state, a break with normal reality occurs, which carries the person to an
altered state of "mind", but not disjoint from normal waking
consciousness, like dream state is disjoint from waking state. The person appears to be here, yet they are
obviously not "here". The
normal coherence of harmony between the inner field of consciousness and the
outer field of perceptual objects and events has been disturbed. The person is experiencing an altered state
of nervous system and mental experiences.
There is no adequate understanding of it to communicate about it
meaningfully with those "outside".
(In all mental illness there is the huge problem of communication. Especially, as most people whom they
communicate with, have no experiences no information to enable them to really
understand what the person is experiencing.
"You're crazy… You are wrong
about that chair, there is no one sitting in it, " and
so on, ad nauseam. The person is made to
be wrong, and the whole thing spirals down from there.
In the
literature and in our culture, mental illness has been categorized variously,
schizophrenia, bi-polar, manic depressive, etc. But these are all just points
on a scale where gradations from the normal pattern of movement from waking
state into dream state has been disturbed.
But only slightly. The cessation of normal waking state, and the emergence of an altered or illusory state
with no coherent understanding of its etiology makes for a very tragic
situation.
In all
cases of the expansion of knowledge, the new state of knowledge arises from an
already existing state. In this case we understand how the dream state has
arisen from waking state from the quote above.
Now we extend this understanding to the murky realm of the mentally
ill. The nervous system is the
same. But the reality is slightly
different. The nervous system can only
do what it has been designed to do by the creator. Subtler regions of the
nervous system exist in both the sane and the insane. In the case of the "insane" the
only difference has become one of degree.
The subtler nervous system comes into play, and a state with illusory
experiences result, the waking state is for a period o time disturbed by the
emergence of the illusory experiences.
But the waking state does not completely disappear altogether. Instead, the nervous system, not completely
tired, responds slightly to the commands of the mind. Some degree of waking state
results. But the nervous system
is tired, so it does not fully respond. (In all cases of mental illness, there
is the need for rest). The illusory
state of reality appears as the subtler regions of the nervous system become
energized by the commands of the mind.
Illusory experiences result, yet they appear within the framework of a
slightly energized waking state. The
state is a departure from waking, yet not completely dream. This is exactly what determines mental
illness. It is not completely waking and
it is not completely dream, yet has the characteristics of both.
This
completes the specification of the model.
While simple it is profound yet comprehensive. It is the model we will explore and in order
to make its application clear, we will take various common classifications and
show how the model applies to them.
We will
consider in turn
ADD - a
mild mental disturbance treated most commonly with drugs.
Schizophrenia
- a full blown break with reality
Bi-polar
- a common term used today, but non-existentt 75 years ago.
Manic
depression --
Psychotic
episodes --
etc
By way
of continuation, when functioning on this level for some time, the subtler
regions of the nervous system become tired, then the ability to perceive
illusory experiences is lost altogether, and the person spirals down into no
ability to discriminate between the real and the unreal, yet remains slightly
awake. This is truly the realm of the
disturbed. But it is in fact, simply a
reflection of the nervous system's ability to follow the commands of the
mind. This is truly asleep to
oneself. Not only lost in the illusion,
but even lost to oneself. A kind of sleep, which though not fully sleep, is for all intents and purposes, a state of sleeping
while waking. This contradictory state
is the essence of mental illness.
Here we
have the crux of mental illness – a manifestation of the contradictory. Because the nervous system itself has been
pushed into a contradictory mode of functioning, the reality which is produced
by such a state has to be contradictory.
It can not be otherwise. The
contradiction is exactly what results when the nervous system is unable to
function in the normal state. This is
exactly what we mean by "mentally ill." Not normal.
(We will find that there are curious correlations which exist between
these altered states of the nervous system which are known as mentally ill, and
the altered states of mind, which are known as higher states of consciousness,
and frequently, much too frequently, the thin line between these two types of
functioning becomes blurred by the inability to correctly perceive from both
sides, from within by the perceiver of the reality, and from without as viewed
by the counselor or analyst.) In any
case, any understanding of "mental illness" must proceed from this
simple yet clear understanding of the functioning of the nervous system -- use
of the subtler states of the nervous system, and the passing from the gross
state to the subtler state and so on, as described above.
The
area of research to be explored is to see if the subtlety of research
technology can distinguish the subtle areas of the nervous system, and to characterize these
areas and correlate them with the various types of mental illness.
It is
not possible to understand the darkness of mental illness from within its
framework. The genius of R. D. Laing to
penetrate in the illusion itself on its own terms, and the genius of Carl
Rogers to see that telling the patient how to see in our terms is such a waste
of precious time, but rather to see life in patients terms and to accept it
thusly, is the way out, are two of the early signs of the removal of the
darkness from this field.
It is
not necessary to take the darkness of psychology and psychiatry into complete
consideration, because the fields are essentially looking at a condition which
they themselves have no direct experience of.
They are looking at an illusion which they do not experience
themselves. So it is not surprising that
they would find "strange" labels and treat the conditions as if it is
a kind of criminal or illegal condition which is how we treat mental
illness. Instead, if this new
perspective is adopted, we find that a more holistic understanding will develop
since we have a more connected, non-illusory framework from within which we can
view the condition. It is after all, in
all cases, simply a contradictory state of two states of nervous system
functioning at the same time - illusory state and waking state, neither of
which is really able to function fully.
Research will show that the areas of the nervous system which are
responsible for the complete state of waking and dreaming,
will be found to functionally existing at the same time in the mentally
disturbed.
The nature of
the mind.
In our
world, especially in the west, we are taught in various ways, both direct and
indirect that the mind is problematical, and needs to be controlled. We are taught to discipline the mind, and to
concentrate it, even to the point of strain.
These principles are totally the product of ignorance about the
mind. While they are widely used, they
are in fact related to the habits of those who are in ignorance about life, and not in fact aware of the nature of the mind at
all.
The
nature of the mind is to go toward a field of greater happiness. This is true for all thinking in the
mind. Each and every thought is an
attempt on the part of the mind to gain greater happiness. Since the mind is generally pointed in the
outward direction, it is obvious that the mind will look to objects of
perception to find that happiness. So
each and every individual is actually seeking for greater happiness, by having
thoughts, the general direction of which is to seek greater happiness. This is the essential condition of the
mind. While it is true that the source
of the thought is a field of great bliss and happiness and that this is really
the only way to truly satisfy the mind, it is still true nevertheless that the
mind even when full of bliss will still proceed toward actions and objects of
perception based on this principle. One,
example will make the operation of this principle clear. In nature we can see many types of creatures. They too are propelled by this principle of
life. Consider the honey bee. It seems to be flying from flower to flower,
and.................
"Because
thinking depends primarily on the
physical state of the nervous system any factor which influences the physical
condition of the nervous system, directly influences the process of ..."(SOB) ...
thinking, and any process which utilizes the process of thinking, say,
reflection, healing, contemplation,
deciding are all influenced by the condition of the physical nervous
system.
In the
case of the mentally disturbed, it can be said that the nature of the mind is
still to seek greater happiness, but some thoughts may be the result of the
action of the subtle areas of the nervous system acting, and also to an extent
that is difficult to quantify, the thoughts will also reflect the fatigue and
tension in the nervous system since it is also tired, but acting at the same
time. Nevertheless, the thoughts still
are a product of the nature of life, which in this case manifests as the
physical system trying to throw off the fatigue, which coupled with the subtler
areas of the nervous system acting, leads to exaggerated states of
illusion. Add to this the effects of
drugs which are totally undefined as far as their effects on the subtler and
even gross levels of the physical system, the result will be a very difficult
experiential field of penetrate. (This
is obvious from any anecdotal approach to analysis.)
Shouting from the roof tops.
We have
the knowledge of the structuring dynamics of the constitution of the
universe. While this may sound far
fetched for many, hard to grasp from the ordinary level of comprehension, it is
true for every area of life, since the veda is
everywhere (veda means total knowledge).
At this time, we know this in three distinct ways, knowledge of the
complex construction of the sounds, the language of the vedas, knowledge of the
unmanifest manifesting the forms of consciousness in the body's structure and
functioning, and we know it on the level of our own innocent experience -- our
own common sense. We are looking at the
regeneration of life itself from within itself.
This is the nature of the infinite field.)
Applications of the model to various categories of mental
disturbance.
Bibliography
Science
of Being, MMY
Penguin 1968
The
Divided Self, R D
Laing, 1960
On
Becoming a Person,
C R Rogers, Houghton Mifflin 1961
Dreams
and Reality, Carl
Jung 1950