posted October 08, 2009 11:42 AM
quote:
The only person who can measure this is the one experiencing it. And whether it's one or the other, no-one else can ever really know, and therefore, judge. What's delusion for one is reality for another.
I'm on the fence about this, PA. On the one hand, yes...mystical/spiritual experiences can be very private and intimate and might look nutty to someone else, and there's such a blurred line between madness, mysticism, and genius.
On the other hand, delusional behaviors can be dangerous to the sufferer and to others...at the very least, they are often a strong sign that the person is deeply unhappy...with help, they could often find real health.
Some serial killers and murderers believe they're on a spiritual mission. And people with severe erotomanic disorder sometimes believe that a stranger (often a celebrity) "needs" them or secretly loves them. The stalker's victim can never really "prove" that s/he DOES NOT WANT THE STALKER....and none of us can ever "prove" that a murderer who killed his child in order to "return her to god" (true case study) was NOT doing god's bidding.
For people with mild forms of disorders that haven't laddered up, and are mostly harming their own health at this time (anorexia, fixation on the fantasy of a celebrity, mild obsessive-compulsive symptoms such as excessive hand-washing, alcoholism or other substance abuse)...I think many of them suspect, at some level, that what they are up to is a psychological ritual rather than the reflection of spirituality. Even in the throes of deep denial. And it can raise awareness to candidly discuss the syndromes and the other behaviors that usually come with them.
Denial is a huge issue, and unfortunately ideas about spirituality and the mysterious (since they ARE so intimate and personal) can be abused in order to rationalize disordered behavior.
Lindaland
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posted October 08, 2009 11:42 AM