I've long wondered about the similarities and differences between supposed enlightenment and mental illness. Many of the things spiritual people talk about like ego death, not being attached to things, transcending this plane of reality and being in communication with higher beings all sound like they could be signs of diagnosable mental illness in certain contexts. Not having a sense of self is one of the diagnostic criteria for BPD, being attached to nothing sounds a little like psychopathy, transcending everyday reality sounds a bit like disassociation, and being in communication with invisible beings sounds a bit like schitzophrenia. Even the concept of being able to "sense energy" could sound equally enlightened or insane depending on the context.
This is not meant to be snarky at all, this is a legitimate question that I've pondered for years- how do you find the line between enlightenment and mental illness, or are they ultimately different ways of viewing similar tendencies?
Submitted May 13, 2020 at 09:25AM by BeautifulAndrogyne https://ift.tt/2LrNgjG
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