In the context of dominant American culture, my earliest awakenings of a spiritual nature were considered “manic episodes.” I was taken to the psych ward screaming, injected with drugs, the whole dramatic shebang. Depression, confusion, and shame always colored the aftermath.
It is extremely common for people, regardless of recorded mental health history, to be subconsciously driven by accumulated trauma and fear. Trauma is stored in the body, making practices such as Somatic Experiencing an important element of recovery. Body-oriented approaches release trauma in ways that talk therapy alone cannot.
Neuroscientist Candace Pert said, “Most psychologists treat the mind as disembodied, a phenomenon with little or no connection to the physical body. Conversely, physicians treat the body with no regard to the mind or the emotions. But the body and mind are not separate, and we cannot treat one without the other.”
It will take a collective shift in understanding in order to improve our society’s treatment of people experiencing energetic imbalances typically labeled “mental illness.” The books, Woman Who Glows in the Dark by Elena Avila with Joy Parker and The Tao of Bipolar by C. Alexander Simpkins and Annellen M. Simpkins, can be helpful places to start.
Addiction specialist Gabor Maté explores the science of trauma and the use of coping mechanisms in his book In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts. He writes, “No society can understand itself without looking at its shadow side.” Through the integration of deeply buried aspects of self, the impossible becomes possible.
Sable Knapp
You Are Not Alone (NAMI). This entry is available here.
Published March 21, 2019 online.