Insanity And Divinity

How close is spirituality to psychosis? Covering the interrelation of psychosis and spirituality from a number of angles, Insanity and Divinity will generate dialogue and discussion, aid critical reflection and stimulate creative approaches to clinical work for those interested in the connections between religious studies, psychoanalysis, anthropology and hagiography. Bringing together an international range of contributors and covering many different types of religious experience, this book presents its theme in three parts: Psychoanalysis, belief and mysticism Anthropology, history and hagiography Psychology, psychosis and religious experience. Each section includes discussion of the hinterland between madness and religious experience from the perspective of a number of religions, autobiographical accounts of those who have experienced a psychosis in which spirituality played a key part and a comprehensive review of the position of psychology research into the meaning and function of spirituality in relation to the psychoses. Insightful, enlightening and wide-ranging, Insanity and Divinity is ideal for clinicians, academics and chaplains working in clinical settings.

First Book in Insanity & Divinity SeriesFrom the Blog Book of Throes. An exploration of ideas, from Philosophy, Psychology, Art, Religion, Mysticism & Life. Guaranteed to amuse, bemuse and abuse, your senses, intellect, feelings & intuition. But with the best of intentions!!! Be warned this vol, is not an easy read, but if you heed the call, then it will reveal more than conceal. Enjoy.

From the Blog Book of Throes. An exploration of ideas, from Philosophy, Psychology, Art, Religion, Mysticism & Life. Guaranteed to amuse, bemuse and abuse, your senses, intellect, feelings & intuition. But with the best of intentions. Be warned this vol, is not an easy read, but if you heed the call, then it will reveal more than conceal. Enjoy.

This book partakes of a long tradition of dream interpretation, but, at the same time, is unique in its cross-cultural and interdisciplinary methods and in its mix of theoretical and analytical approaches. It includes a great chronological and geographical range, from ancient Sumeria to eighteenth-century China; medieval Hispanic dream poetry to Italian Renaissance dream theory; Shakespeare to Nerval; and from Dostoevsky, through Emily Brontë, to Henry James. Rupprecht also incorporates various critical orientations including archetypal, comparative, feminist, historicist, linguistic, postmodern, psychoanalytic, religious, reader response, and self-psychology.

Are hallucinations and delusions really symptoms of an illness called ‘schizophrenia’? Are mental health problems really caused by chemical imbalances and genetic predispositions? Are psychiatric drugs as effective and safe as the drug companies claim? Is madness preventable? This second edition of Models of Madness challenges those who hold to simplistic, pessimistic and often damaging theories and treatments of madness. In particular it challenges beliefs that madness can be explained without reference to social causes and challenges the excessive preoccupation with chemical imbalances and genetic predispositions as causes of human misery, including the conditions that are given the name 'schizophrenia'. This edition updates the now extensive body of research showing that hallucinations, delusions etc. are best understood as reactions to adverse life events and that psychological and social approaches to helping are more effective and far safer than psychiatric drugs and electroshock treatment. A new final chapter discusses why such a damaging ideology has come to dominate mental health and, most importantly, how to change that. Models of Madness is divided into three sections: Section One provides a history of madness, including examples of violence against the ‘mentally ill’, before critiquing the theories and treatments of contemporary biological psychiatry and documenting the corrupting influence of drug companies. Section Two summarises the research showing that hallucinations, delusions etc. are primarily caused by adverse life events (eg. parental loss, bullying, abuse and neglect in childhood, poverty, etc) and can be understood using psychological models ranging from cognitive to psychodynamic. Section Three presents the evidence for a range of effective psychological and social approaches to treatment, from cognitive and family therapy to primary prevention. This book brings together thirty-seven contributors from ten countries and a wide range of scientific disciplines. It provides an evidence-based, optimistic antidote to the pessimism of biological psychiatry. Models of Madness will be essential reading for all involved in mental health, including service users, family members, service managers, policy makers, nurses, clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, counsellors, psychoanalysts, social workers, occupational therapists, art therapists.

The fictional world of Will Self is unlike any other. In The Quantity Theory of Insanity, we learn, amongst other things, the dark and terrible secret of Ward 9, why you are right to think that London is full of dead people and that each and every human being is caught up in a colossal balancing act between the sane and the insane ... The Quantity Theory of Insanity is acerbic, satirical, hilarious and, most of all, utterly unique in imaginative vision.

This is my First book, and I must say it has been a bit of an adventure. Sometimes I felt like Ulysses and other times I felt like Dante. I was privy to all manner of insights and secrets that I tried to capture over the better part of ten years.Although the journey really began for me in March 1990, when I had an experience, that left me shattered and broken, enlightened and reborn.I don't say this lightly or in jest, it was what it was, an awakening and a call from a force I knew was outer worldly.But as this is a book of musings, observations and insights. It is rather disjointed, but gives a flavor of the process from innocence and naivety to understanding and acceptance.Not so much from the world, but from myself and my divine feminine.I leave it to you Gentle Reader, to make do what you will of these musings. But I hope that you can come away with a little knowledge a little entertainment and a little awareness, of just how wonderful Life is.I remain forever, your faithful servant

This is the second book of Contemplations, that I wish to present to amuse, bemuse and abuse, your senses, thinking, feelings & intuition.The material was written over a period of several years and does not necessarily reflect where I am at the moment, but the essence I believe is very much true to my own internal process.I hope that you will find some value in these Contemplations. And I ask you to read them carefully, meditate on them, recite or put them into your own words, and then and only then contemplate them. For extra points, see if you can apply them to your daily lives. This is a big request, but I do believe, that it is only through the application of information, that it becomes, Knowledge which leads to wisdom, and ultimately understanding. From there it is anyone's guess.If I have any real hope for this book, it is that perhaps it will stimulate you, into looking and seeing, listening and hearing, and feeling & thinking, about yourself, your relations and the world around you, in a better way.