traumas that are the true origin of mental disturbances. They also need more sensitivity to discern the phenomena associated with SEY, to diagnose and treat appropriately. Although we can still make use of the “client-centered” therapies that were popular in the 1970s, we also need to integrate sound protocols that have been developed more recently.
In addition to the research that has catalyzed this need for an overhaul in the paradigm in which we view and treat mental disturbances, there have also been more general shifts of attitude and mind in the society at large. These too have impacted the way we view SEY and mental disturbance.
Cultural Changes Inspire More Branching Out
Let’s consider how our culture has changed since the word ‘Spiritual Emergency’ was first seeded. Two dramatic examples: in 1980, those following the American Psychiatric Association (APA) still formally considered homosexuality to be a sign of mental illness. This is no longer true. Also, in 1980, if someone was deeply disoriented and disturbed while re-evaluating their religious affiliation, they might have been given an anti-psychotic. Today, there is a new diagnostic code that determines that this episode would not be a sign of illness and thus not need medication. Health professionals following the APA would call it a “spiritual or religious problem”.
In 1980, when the ‘Spiritual Emergency Network’ first found a home at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA, the USA was not very welcoming of Eastern ways of worshipping the Divine. The stages of consciousness development so clearly recognized in Eastern philosophies was not yet considered of value here—it was simply too “out of the box”. Thus, when someone had an experience such as “kundalini awakening”—with uncontrolled, shaking of the body and fear it was perceived by our medical personnel as a sign of psychosis…the same with someone who was “hearing voices”. No one was asking about the nature of the energy being experienced or the message being received to determine if it was positive or negative. In the worst case, a person listening to the voice of their Higher Self in their heart telling them to choose Love over all else would be diagnosed just as “crazy” as the person listening to some fragment of self telling him to kill himself or someone else.
(paired seeds of a maple tree)
When Stanislav and Christina Grof first conceptualized spiritual emergency they were really addressing our ignorance of the signposts of spiritual advancement. At that time, we didn’t know that people learning to listen to the voice of the Higher Self and align with it may appear strangely unpredictable, but it is not a sign they are crazy. Those who are allowing streams of energy to flood their bodies may be at first frightened, but we don’t need to frighten them more by telling them they are crazy. In the early 1980s we needed a safe place for someone to learn how to embrace their consciousness expansion and increased energy level without a health professional considering that they had a medical problem that needed medication and hospitalization. The Spiritual Emergency Network was needed as a referral service providing a safety net of individual therapists and ‘safe houses’ representing helpers who knew the territory—strange as it seemed to the mainstream.
Consider where we have come in our grassroots culture: there’s been a groundswell of interest in spiritual growth since the 1980s. The international popularity of such books and audios as “The Power of Now” and “The New Earth” by Eckhart Tolle is some measure of this. Tolle brings illumination within reach of everyone, echoing “Be Here Now”, Ram Dass’s popular book of the 1960s. Yoga (the East Indian practice of union with the Divine) classes are now being offered in almost every town, city and state. Ken Wilber recognizes that anyone at any age and stage of development (and there are many differing measures of types of development) can experience a high state of consciousness. For most the high state is a “preview” of a stage or level of consciousness to come—an enticement, if you will, encouraging more spiritual growth and stepping away from the beat of our ordinary, materialistic culture. Add to this “come one, come all to higher states of consciousness” the tidal wave of self-help books, DVDs, webinars and seminars (like Lifespring, EST, and Avatar) that offer people practical tools in calming anxiety, brightening depression, and moving into serenity. Through the unrestricted space of the ever-present internet, these materials are being shared, world-wide, at lightning speed across every cultural and national boundary.
These new resources have inspired those with addictions looking for a better way of life, as well as those with depression and anxiety looking for more peace. They reinforce what was already being spoken about in 12-step programs: cultivate a relationship with the Higher Power that is loving and wise, learn to differentiate good relationships and bad relationships, learn to be more forgiving towards yourself and others, learn the skills to be in positive relationship with yourself and others.
Some would attribute this groundswell to the dawning of a new age, an evolutionary step if you will, when all people are spontaneously inspired to be more compassionate with ourselves and others…an age where the new physics and the new biology point to the tremendous power of a state of mind that is positive and deeply connected to the energy of life which unifies us all…an age where we realize that practicing forgiveness, appreciation of differences and gratitude for all that is life are the fastest track to peace of mind.
Yet, still today in 2012, proponents of the medical model and the APA (American Psychiatric Association) are generally quick to forward the concept that most mental disturbances need psychiatric medication first. Rarely do people who represent the conventional model of care refer patients to alternative or complementary resources. They continue to point to old, often skewed research (that has been recently proven to be obsolete) to prove that people who are emotionally disturbed need psychiatric medications. Yes, some people can benefit from them—but, according to current research, the majority does not benefit either short term or long term.
How the proponents of the biomedical model of care will come to reflect current research and employ more effective protocols for mental health will be an interesting story to follow in the coming years. It will force the big pharmaceutical companies to loosen their grip as the dominating force in mental health care.
The Recovery Movement
In the last few years there has been a grassroots movement towards people with mental disturbances compassionately taking care of others who have the same issues. It’s referred to respectfully as “peer support” to encourage full recovery after mental disturbances and, although it is not supposed to take the place of responsible medical care or professional psychotherapy, it is an effective complement to both of them.
Since evidence-based research now shows that empathic listening by paraprofessionals is one of the most effective forms of “treatment,” state and federal dollars from mental health agencies are beginning to fund community centers that offer peer help and the training of “peer specialists.” These specialists have themselves had the “lived-experience” of mental disturbances and are successfully making it to recovery—a full remission and/or effective management of symptoms--usually without drugs. Mounting evidence and research showing the debilitating effects of long-term use of psychiatric medications has only added to the need for this kind of effective and inspiring alternative.
The peer specialists are successfully transmitting the tools to manage unusual states of consciousness that have been ascribed to “pathologies”, but may, in fact, be better named “extreme states” or, possibly, “spiritual emergencies,” or “disturbances” rather than illnesses. In their toolkit: empathic support groups, one on one peer support, yoga classes, meditation classes and retreats, discussion groups, libraries of recommended books, help with learning positive habits for diet, exercise, rest, learning about the long-term impact of continuing medications, responsible management of drug use, and the importance
