Realizations
It's one thing not to see the forest for the trees,
but then to go on to deny the reality of the forest
is a more serious matter.
- Paul Weiss
Curiosity has its own reason for existence.
- Albert Einstein
The patient I'm referring to you," said my psychiatrist colleague, "has received several different psychiatric
diagnoses, been treated with a variety of psychotropic drugs and been institutionalized a few times, but she continues to
be refractory. Her persistence in claiming that she has all sorts of paranormal experiences, suggests that a diagnosis of
Schizotypal Personality Disorder, among others, is definitely in order. I'm making this referral outside the medical
system because you appear to be knowledgeable about weird beliefs."
Knowledgeable I was, because, in my role as a clinical hypnotherapist, many clients had shared with me their experiences of
such things as Extra-Sensory Perception (ESP), PsychoKinesis (PK), past-life recall, apparitions, spirit possession and
alien contact. "Weird" and "paranormal," however, were not terms that I used, in that they seemed
unnecessarily pejorative. Moreover, I did not apply traditional psychiatric diagnoses to people who had such experiences
because I felt that those experiences were not well enough understood to be definitively characterized as evidentiary of
psychopathology.
Schizotypals Everywhere
Those whose stock-in-trade is psychiatric diagnoses, however, have plenty of support for their use of the label
"Schizotypal Personality Disorder" in such cases. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders—Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), in its list of key diagnostic criteria for Schizotypal Personality Disorder,
includes: ideas of reference, unusual perceptual experiences and odd beliefs that are inconsistent with subcultural norms.
Several other criteria need to be met for the diagnosis to be legitimately applied, but a contemporaneous article in the
periodical Perceptual and Motor Skills seemed to exemplify the standard way of dealing with such experiences. In much
abbreviated form, that article read:
Belief in extra-sensory perception (ESP) is associated with a...bias for right-hemisphere processing. [This is especially]
significant when viewed in the light of current theories of hemispheric asymmetries in schizophrenia. Belief in ESP has...been
recognized as a variable relevant to schizophrenia, ...especially with respect to positive symptomatology [hallucinations, delusions
and thought disorders]...[and] may therefore be construed as a behavioral feature [characteristic of] schizotypy....
[S]ubjects scoring high on scales assessing schizotypy...show an increase in leftward lateral eye movements, a loss of the regular
right-ear advantage in dichotic shadowing and a "sinistral shift" in handedness. A pathological overactivation of the
right cerebral hemisphere [is]...the neurological basis of positive symptoms in schizophrenic patients. ...[and an] overactivation of
the right hemisphere [also appears]...in normal subjects scoring high on scales…assessing positive symptoms of schizophrenia-like
thoughts and behaviors.
[The primary] questionnaire [item] used to assess schizotypy reads "do you believe in telepathy?" …[S]chizotypal
personality disorder is characterized by… belief in clairvoyance, telepathy, or "sixth sense"… [B]oth pathological
(schizophrenic) and institutionalized (parapsychological) belief systems share a common neurological basis [which]…comprise[s] a
release of right-hemisphere function from left-hemisphere control.
[Brackets mine]
The statement made in the last paragraph seemed to be tantamount to defining schizotypy as "belief in ESP"—in
other words, having such unconventional beliefs, in and of itself, supposedly constituted a mental disorder. That argument was
allegedly bolstered by the neurologically based theory that belief in ESP results from an over-activation of the right cerebral
hemisphere. Perhaps that theory was valid and perhaps it wasn't, but the pathologizing nature of the underlying definition of
schizotypy seemed inappropriate.
Defining and pathologizing a belief in Extra-Sensory Perception as the primary symptom of a mental disorder appeared to me to be
a way of brushing ESP under the rug and precluding, by dismissal, any study of ESP that might lead to a better understanding of
it. Perhaps the adherents of this approach were not so much trying to understand ESP as they were trying to debunk it—so as
to bolster an entrenched worldview that did not allow for the possible genuineness of such experiences. Maybe those who were doing
the diagnosing, pathologizing and debunking believed that by defining ESP experiences as nothing more than symptoms of mental
illness —something they believed they understood—they could keep their worldview intact and not have to deal with
something they did not understand (and perhaps even feared).
Liza
These thoughts were very much on my mind when I first met the referred client. Liza, as I shall call her, was a young, attractive,
intelligent woman with red hair, blue eyes and a very fair complexion. When it came to anomalous (a value-neutral term, meaning
"unusual," used instead of the value-laden term "paranormal") experiences, Liza had much to relate. She reported
one Near-Death Experience; several experiences of apparitions, spirit guides, past-life recall and Out-Of-Body journeying; and
innumerable instances of PsychoKinesis (PK) and Extra-Sensory Perception (ESP) including psychic dreams, clairvoyance, telepathy
and precognition. She stated, however, that she had no beliefs, one way or the other, about the objective reality of those
experiences. Given that beliefs are central to the Schizotypal Personality Disorder diagnosis, it is small wonder that she presented
a conundrum to those who were diagnostically oriented—she had the experiences, but hadn't invested herself in any beliefs about
them.
Working with Liza gave me an opportunity to engage in a challenging theoretical exercise—one of determining how many different
credible psychiatric diagnoses could be employed to pathologize her experiences and dismiss them as illusory. Her detailed case history
included the following highlights:
-
Liza often experienced what are generally labeled as "illusions," "delusions," and "hallucinations." The
list of anomalous experiences already mentioned, is illustrative.
-
She had "odd beliefs" and engaged in "magical thinking." One could argue that, despite her claim to the contrary, had
she not believed that such things as ESP and PK were, in some sense, real, she would not have reported experiencing them.
-
At times, she felt detached from herself, as if she were an outside observer. She also experienced episodes in which she perceived the
external world as strange, distorted, or unreal.
-
Occasionally, she spontaneously entered Altered States of Consciousness (ASCs) in which she experienced her mind as being absorbed into
mystical realms of unity, light and energy.
-
Interpersonally, she was extremely sensitive. Her relationships tended to be intense and unstable. She frequently experienced feelings
of isolation and abandonment.
-
She exhibited uncertainty about her self-image, her choice of friends and her goals.
-
She exhibited a high level of emotionality, experiencing marked mood swings characterized by recurrent depression with occasional
episodes of high energy and enthusiasm.
-
She often experienced periods of considerable anxiety and worry, over which she had no control.
-
She was subject to a variety of sleep disturbances including insomnia, nightmares, lucid dreams and myoclonic jerks (sudden,
involuntary muscle contractions).
-
At times, her thinking could become disorganized. She had periods of forgetfulness and inattentiveness. Despite her
obvious intelligence, she also had difficulty with reading and with mathematics.
-
Her speech tended to be digressive and abstract. She was inclined to express concepts in unusual ways and to use words in a
novel manner.
-
She had a variety of physiological symptoms that occurred episodically. These included fevers, headaches, flu-like symptoms,
pains and gastrointestinal problems. She also experienced periods of restlessness, tremulousness and spatial disorientation.
-
Unusual bodily sensations were commonplace for her—such things as tingling, numbness, rushes of energy, extremes of
heat and cold, "pins and needles," and "electric currents."
-
She was unusually sensitive to environmental stimuli, especially lights and sounds; she often experienced sensory synesthesias
(the spontaneous association of a sensaton being activitated by external stimuli with another sensation of a different kind);
and she appeared to have an exaggerated startle response.
Based on the above (and other) information, detailed research in the DSM-IV revealed that eleven psychiatric diagnoses in
six different categories were excellent fits. They were:
-
Personality Disorders: (1) Schizotypal Personality Disorder and (2) Borderline Personality Disorder;
-
Dissociative Disorders: (3) Dissociative Disorder Not Otherwise Specified;
-
Mood Disorders: (4) Bipolar II Disorder (With Rapid Cycling);
-
Anxiety Disorders: (5) Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and (6) Generalized Anxiety Disorder;
-
Disorders Usually First Diagnosed in Childhood: (7) Reading Disorder, (8) Mathematics Disorder and (9) Attention
Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (Predominantly Inattentive Type);
-
Somatoform Disorders: (10) Somatization Disorder and (11) Conversion Disorder.
The conventional biomedical model considers each of these diagnoses to be a separate and distinct psychiatric disorder. Given their
rates of occurrence in the general population, Liza's degree of comorbidity was extremely unusual. The probability of these eleven
disorders occurring simultaneously in one individual is less than 2.3 x 10-17. To put it another way, the odds are ten thousand to
one against there being a single person on the entire planet having all eleven disorders - and yet I knew a couple of other people
whose "symptomatology" was quite similar to Liza's.
Liza had also been diagnosed as having a host of chronic general medical conditions including: Systemic Lupus Erythematosus,
Hypothyroidism, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Epstein-Barr Virus, Lyme disease, recurrent Bronchitis/Pneumonia and
recurrent Streptococcus infections. Collectively, these eight different medical diagnoses were highly suggestive of a severely
compromised immune system.
Eleven psychiatric diagnoses and eight chronic general medical diagnoses—Liza clearly had more than her share of problems, but
statistically it was highly improbable that all of the diagnoses could be correct. Conversely, it also seemed absurd to select
one—or two, or even three—of these diagnoses as the explanation for what was going on with her. The evidence definitely
suggested the appropriateness of directing further inquiries toward finding a more encompassing condition or syndrome that could truly
explain—not just explain away—most, if not all, of her symptoms.
Beyond the Personal
Traditional psychiatric diagonsis was not my forte. It was not my primary interest, nor was it the reason Liza had been referred to
me. My curiosity had been piqued, however. I wanted to understand what type of people had anomalous experiences and why, the contexts
in which those experiences occurred and the reasons that mental health practitioners routinely pathologized and debunked them. Moreover,
as a clinical hypnotherapist, my focus was on the clients' experiences rather than on the phenomena purported to
underlie those experiences. Therapeutically, it had historically proven efficacious to work with the clients' experiences as if they were
"really real"—to appropriately contextualize them, rather than to dismiss them as symptoms of a mental disorder.
Furthermore, the clients' belief (or lack thereof) in the objective reality of the alleged underlying phenomena appeared to have little
bearing on the successful outcome of the therapy.
Setting the stage for an in-depth investigation into these matters required addressing a few tangential issues first. Not the least of
these was one of semantics—finding the proper words by which to refer to anomalous experiences, collectively. As previously
mentioned, the term "paranormal" (and others such as "supernatural," "occult," and "metaphysical")
had connotations that were too heavily value-laden. The term "anomalous," while appropriately value-neutral, was not
sufficiently descriptive. Stanislav Grof's term, "Transpersonal Experiences," seemed to be the best choice. As it will be used
throughout this book, the term "Transpersonal Experiences (TPEs)" means: "Experiences that occur beyond the ordinary
differentiated boundaries of ego, space and time; experiences that suggest the essential interconnectedness (and/or absolute unity) of
all that ever was, is, or will be; experiences that imply the existence of mind (as distinct from brain), of spirit, of soul."
Almost everyone will agree that the mind is somehow associated with the brain. However, when it comes to the question of whether or
not the mind can in any way be considered to be separate and distinct from the brain, positions become polarized. Similarly, any
attempt to distinguish between mind, spirit and soul leads to a philosophical quagmire. In order to avoid needless complications, I
shall simply postulate that the mind, under the appropriate set of circumstances, can appear to be separate and distinct
from the brain and, when it appears to be separate and distinct from the brain, it appears to take on qualities
that some people attribute to the spirit or the soul. To put it another way, in any given instance, the more closely the mind appears
to be associated with the brain, the more brain-like it appears to be and the less closely the mind appears to be associated with the
brain, the more spirit-like or soul-like it appears to be. In this book then, the term "mind" will generally be used to
refer to the "mind/spirit/soul" complex.
Developing a taxonomy of Transpersonal Experiences also proved to be helpful. Some lists of TPEs consist of hundreds of items. Upon
analysis, however, it appeared that only eighteen—those that were most representative and relevant—truly needed to be
considered. Logically, they could be organized into three general categories: (1) experiences of transpersonal perception, (2)
experiences of transpersonal influence and (3) experiences of transpersonal manifestation of mind. The list below, shows this
categorical breakout and is followed by the definitions of the eighteen experiences.
Experiences of Transpersonal Perception:
-
Déjà Vu—the strong feeling that some person, place, or situation has been experienced before, even though
the experience is apparently occurring for the first time.
-
Synchronicity—the occurrence of a pattern of significant events, apparently causally unrelated, the connections among which
seem to be too meaningful to be mere coincidence.
-
Telepathy—transmission and/or reception of thoughts with another person without normal communication or clues.
-
Precognition—accurate knowledge of an event that will take place in the future and that could not be predicted by
logical means.
-
Psychic Dream—a dream that matches in detail an event the dreamer did not know about, or have reason to expect, at
the time of the dream.
-
Clairvoyance (including clairaudience, clairsentience, claircognizance)—accurate awareness of events that are
not available to usual sensory impressions.
Experiences of Transpersonal Influence:
-
Psychic Healing—healing of an injury or illness through non-physical means such as prayer, meditation, laying on of
hands, therapeutic touch, etc.
-
Electrical PsychoKinesis—the influencing of electrical and/or electronic equipment (causing lights to go on and off,
causing malfunctions in watches, calculators, computers, etc.) through no "natural" physical means.
-
PsychoKinesis—the causing of changes in the location or state of a physical object (metal bending, fire-starting, things
falling to the floor, etc.) through no "natural" physical means
Experiences of Transpersonal Manifestation of Mind:
-
Contact With Spirit Guides—mental contact with "spirits" or "higher beings" in which the individual
receives information or guidance while remaining aware of what is happening.
-
Out-Of-Body Experience—the sense that one's awareness or mind has moved outside the physical body to a different
location and the body can actually be seen from that location—other than during a Near-Death Experience
(covered below).
-
Past-Life Recall—the recollection of details and/or emotions of what apparently was another lifetime occurring before
the experiencer was born into her/his current physical body.
-
Apparition—a vision, while awake, of another person, living or dead, who is not physically, or objectively, present.
-
Mediumistic Episode—communication of information or guidance by a "spirit" using the voice (trance channeling),
or hand (automatic writing), of the experiencer, who is in an Altered State of Consciousness and has little awareness afterwards
of what was communicated.
-
UFO Sighting—the observation of an Unidentified Flying Object ("UFO," "flying saucer," etc.) and/or its occupants without actual contact
taking place.
-
Near-Death Experience—coming very close to death (actually dying according to clinical criteria) and experiencing
such classical NDE events as leaving the body, journeying through a tunnel, entering a world of light, perceiving
a presence, etc., but ultimately surviving.
-
Spirit Possession—the feeling that another mind demon, spirit, soul of someone living or dead) is attempting to take (or
has taken) over control of the experiencer's body and will.
-
Alien Contact—actual contact with (what are often called) "extraterrestrial" beings (sometimes involving being taken
aboard a UFO, frequently against the experiencer's will).
Within each of the categories, the individual experiences are organized by their frequency of occurrence as reported by subjects
responding to the HISS questionnaire (to be discussed later). It is noteworthy that every type of experience of transpersonal
perception was reported more frequently than every type of experience of either transpersonal influence or transpersonal manifestation
of mind. This suggests the possibility of a psychosocial reporting bias being involved. Experiences of transpersonal perception are
generally considered to be qualitatively less weird than experiences in either of the other categories—and may, therefore, be more
freely reported. Experiences of transpersonal perception are actually quite commonly acknowledged. In a series of three studies with
non-clinical populations, Douglas Richards found that 51%, 55% and 67%, respectively, of his samples reported having had such experiences.
By convention, experiences of transpersonal perception are often referred to collectively as experiences of "Extra-Sensory Perception
(ESP)" and experiences of transpersonal influence are often referred to collectively as experiences of "PsychoKinesis (PK)."
Also by convention, experiences of both ESP and PK are often referred to collectively as "psi" (Ψ the 23rd letter in
the Greek alphabet) experiences. Psi experiences can theoretically be independently verified under scientific laboratory conditions.
Experiences of transpersonal manifestation of mind, on the other hand, cannot—and they are often referred to collectively as
"psi-related" experiences. These terms will regularly appear throughout this book.
It also seemed important to deal, early on, with the reasons why reports of Transpersonal Experiences so often elicited a knee-jerk
pathologizing and/or debunking response from so many mental-health professionals. Some of my findings about this behavior were quite
intriguing and they will be presented in the next chapter.
Chapter Summary
-
An article in a psychological journal arguing that a belief in Extra-Sensory Perception (ESP) was the primary diagnostic criterion
for Schizotypal Personality Disorder, led me to suspect that those who pathologize paranormal experiences might be debunking (rather
than diagnosing) as a way of keeping their worldviews intact.
-
Liza was a client who reported having multiple anomalous experiences. Eleven different psychiatric diagnoses could be credibly applied
to her, each of which might be used to dismiss those experiences as illusory.
-
Liza had also received eight different diagnoses of chronic general medical conditions.
-
The statistical improbability of a single individual having eleven valid psychiatric diagnoses and eight valid chronic general
medical diagnoses pointed to the likelihood of a more encompassing condition or syndrome being operative.
-
To avoid the connotative value-loading of terms such as "paranormal," "supernatural," "occult," and
"metaphysical," the term "Transpersonal Experiences (TPE)" was selected to apply to: "Experiences that
occur beyond the ordinary differentiated boundaries of ego, space and time; experiences that suggest the essential interconnectedness
(and/or absolute unity) of all that ever was, is, or will be; experiences that imply the existence of mind (as distinct from brain),
of spirit, of soul."
-
TPEs can logically be grouped into three general categories: (1) experiences of transpersonal perception, (2) experiences of
transpersonal influence and (3) experiences of transpersonal manifestation of mind.
-
Experiences of transpersonal perception are often referred to as "Extra-Sensory Perception (ESP)" experiences and
experiences of transpersonal influence are often referred to as "PsychoKinesis (PK)" experiences. Collectively, ESP and
PK experiences are often referred to as "psi" experiences.
-
Psi experiences can theoretically be independently verified. Experiences of transpersonal manifestation of mind (often referred
to as "psi-related" experiences) cannot.
