Whole in Oneness

Two of my primary passions in life are spirituality and mental health. In the years following my spiritual awakening in 2017, I realized there’s such an interconnection between psychology and spirituality. And after experiencing manic psychosis, I further realized this interconnection on a soul level. We almost never hear about this commonality in the “mainstream,” for myriad reasons which I cover in my other posts, especially “The Overlapping Realms of Spirituality and Mental Health,” and “Where's the ‘Search for the Cure’ for Psychosis? Exploring Psychosis on the Awakening Path.” There are actually several concentric circles in the realms of spirituality and psychology that encompass: Spiritual awakenings + mystical experiences + mental health & psychosis + psychedelic experiences + psychic gifts + altered states of consciousness + contact with the spirit world and other dimensions + transcendental or transliminal experiences Furthermore, the prefix “psy” is of ...

Many millions of people are currently struggling with mental health issues, especially in the U.S. Some people are thriving, no doubt, but overall there’s an exorbitant need for healthy mood boosts that are freely available to us all. And not just temporary mood boosts that hijack and then crash our dopamine - or that drain our motivation - or that evoke shame. There’s a plethora of those being sold to us every day. We know some of the most common addictions, which can be manageable for some in moderation: drugs, alcohol, gambling, porn, shopping, overeating, online games & video games, excessive social media use, and doom scrolling. Nearly everyone has addictive inclinations. So there’s absolutely no shame, blame, or condemnation. For most of human history, people haven’t had to face such an onslaught of temptations. Frankly it’s amazing that even some people are doing well, considering the proliferation of distracting and sometimes destructive traps. Many people are a...

Some people say that during psychosis, a person’s unconscious material bursts forth into their waking life. The veil is thin. Filters are dissolved. The same can be said for mystical experiences. As the great Joseph Campbell said in his book The Power of Myth , “The psychotic drowns in the same waters in which the mystic swims with delight." Some people believe there’s not much difference between psychosis and mystical states - states that are frequently experienced by shamans, psychics, and mediums. Both can involve the classic “delusions and hallucinations,” along with lapses in time, trance/altered states, dipping into the unconscious, and contact with the spirit world. Many psychotic delusions are spiritual in nature. Hallucinations too. The “default mode network” in the brain (DMN) is also thought to be imbalanced during psychosis. The DMN is vital for processes like emotional processing, self-reflection, creativity, social interaction, daydreaming, empathy, and se...

What causes psychosis? Why is it so prevalent in humans? Why is there no cure? Or talk of a cure? What could be the evolutionary basis for psychosis? (Since an estimated 415 million people across the world will experience psychosis in their lifetime) These questions arose in the months that followed my last psychotic break. Technically I’ve had three manic episodes, although they all followed traumatic experiences, so initially it was hard to pinpoint: >>> Did I have PTSD? PTSD-induced psychosis? >>> Was it because recreational drugs were involved? >>> Is my brain defective or do I have imbalanced brain chemistry? >>> Are psychotic disorders genetic? No one in my family ever experienced psychosis. I was at a loss. In my heart, I believed my psychosis was ultimately part of my spiritual awakening process, which has been ongoing since 2017. But not everyone on the spiritual path has manic episodes. So naturally I figured other f...