Mental Illness or Spiritual Awakening? Comparing Indigenous Cultures to the Western World
WESTERN CULTURE’S MENTAL ILLNESS
Today’s culture is ill equipped when it comes to healing mental illness. With mental illnesses on the rise, the western medical take a pill approach is clearly not working. Some people may receive benefits using medication, however the vast majority do not. Society is so laser focused on the economy, paying the bills, consuming unnecessary products around the clock, that there is very little wiggle room for those that fall outside of this expected behavior. It’s considered normal to run yourself into the ground every day with no time to relax and take care of yourself. It’s considered normal to work like a dog 24/7 just so you can get up and do it all over again tomorrow.
It’s surprising more people aren’t going mad! The world is in a collective zombie like trance disconnected from spirituality. Living in this disconnected state is contributing to the decline in mental health. We have become so disconnected from the natural world, from the sunshine, which is our true-life force, from healthy fresh food, and from establishing deeply connected relationships with others that both the physical and mental health of humanity has been lost.
The number of mental illnesses listed in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) is astonishing. Topping nearly 300 different psychiatric diagnosis, in which most people could probably fit into in some capacity, it seems there is quite literally a label for everything you can imagine. If you sleep all day and never get up, you are depressed and have a serious problem, if you don’t sleep at all and have eccentric creative tendencies, that’s also a problem. The key word here being PROBLEM. Even the title of the manual is labelled as “disorders.”
OUSTED FROM SOCIETY
Putting people into tiny categories with a sticker on their forehead about all their abnormalities, strangeness, and illnesses is enough to send anyone into a spiral of darkness hidden away in isolation for a lifetime. Why does the psychiatric community wonder why so many people labelled in this manner never get any better? Could it be the way they are treated? Their own methods lack a heart-felt nurturing, caring, and a supportive environment for true healing.
Have you ever spent time in a mental hospital? Have you been diagnosed with several different mental disorders and tossed on a plethora of prescription drugs, many of which list suicidal tendencies as the first side effect? Locking people up in isolation, drugging them, handcuffing them to a bed, putting them in a stray jacket with forcible injections where they want to kill themselves sounds like an environment for transformation and change, right? Hell, no! That sounds horrible. Treating people like they are crazy, that there is no possibility for a cure, neglecting them as if they are less than human, is an approach that will rarely see any positive results.
CRAZY OR WISE?
There’s a wonderful documentary film called Crazywise, which you can view here www.crazywisefilm.com. The film does an excellent job showcasing the difference between how the modern western culture treats mental illness versus indigenous cultures. Many mental health professionals, survivors of mental illness, and indigenous cultures are interviewed in great detail giving their insights into the mystery of the mind and the connection to the natural and spiritual worlds. These views from different areas of the world are vastly different.
The most noticeable difference is indigenous cultures do not consider mental disturbances a “problem.” People who experience hearing voices, visions, fainting spells, shaking, terror, panic, madness, all the things that the west calls insane, these ancient cultures do not see it this way. In fact, they take a completely opposite approach and crown these people as shamanic healers and leaders of the community. This doesn’t happen overnight. A person, who is typically younger, may start developing a sudden psychotic episode and become incredibly ill. The elder shaman within the tribe will see this as a unique calling, or gift, that this person is sensitive to the spirit world and is simply being called to become a healer themselves.
They are mentored and nurtured as they continue to go through their own unique transformative process. Each individual will develop his or her own set of skills. Through expansive, altered, or trance-like states of consciousness the individual discovers their healing gift. If the person ignores this calling, they often spiral into further darkness, madness, and illness until they fully embrace what they are destined to become. Healing themselves first, they then take on a very active role compassionately assisting others through spiritual awakening using various types of healing modalities.
Indigenous cultures embrace darkness as an opening into transformation. They commune with the natural world and allow spirit to move and direct them in their lives. Hearing voices or receiving visions is seen as a communication offering insight, information, healing, or ways to understand the depth of the multidimensional world. Can you imagine what would happen if you walked into a psychiatrist’s office in the western world, and describe the voices you are hearing from spirit, visions on how to heal someone, the fear and terror you experience, or the fainting spells you have as you receive messages for the community? You know exactly what will happen! You’ll have a list of mental illnesses in your chart followed by a bag full of anti-psychotic medications to make all of these “crazy” symptoms go away.
It is clear that the indigenous people know a great deal more about spiritual awakening and the possibilities that exist within it. They embrace the process, provide a supportive network, and a mentor is always there as a guide for the one in the midst of internal chaos. They don’t see these heightened sensitivities as crazy; they see them as wisdom, which is not the case in the west.
MENTAL ILLNESS TO HEALED HEALER
What’s missing in the western approach to mental health is the spiritual nature that we all possess. This doesn’t mean attending church on Sunday either. There is a total lack of contemplation and communing with spirit. The modern world is distracted with nothing but STUFF and connecting with the natural world has become a distant memory for many. Slowing down and truly listening to the inner guidance that is available is exactly what the indigenous cultures harness so well. They nurture each member of the community and respect the land in which they live.
Is it possible that some people do suffer from mental illness? Yes, they absolutely do. However, the labels, drug side effects, and telling people there is no possible cure, only managing symptoms, leaves those afflicted powerless, devastated, and even more depressed than before. Can you imagine how many people are diagnosed with one mental disorder after another and lost within a system that will never be able to truly help them? The number must be staggering. Not everyone who is suffering from mental turmoil is a healer, but the mental disturbance can absolutely offer the individual a chance to look deeper into their life and their own capabilities.
Can you imagine if the mental health establishment reframed the word illness? Changing the fundamentals and transforming illness into opportunity would shift the person suffering toward a new path of curiosity and a potential awakening into a much larger sense of self. Reframing the number of mental disorders and ever-expanding illnesses into seeds of growth, healing, and openings into a new way of experiencing life would transform the state of mental health today. Creating centers filled with mentors, those that have personally lived with mental challenges, have experienced altered states of consciousness, connected with spirit, and transformed their own lives could stand as guides for those in need. The healed healers can offer so much depth and insight to a very misunderstood process.
A key factor to shift this entire runaway train wreck called mental health, is treating the suffering with love and compassion. Seeing the disturbance as real opportunity to see something differently, to learn something about themselves, to explore a deeper connection to spirit is a beautiful gift. There are tools available to make that happen if the person finds someone who sees the potential within them. It doesn’t mean their mental disturbance will leave immediately, but they will feel supported to handle it. Meeting with others in similar positions, working with a true healed healer, and seeing the initial problem as the gateway into a deeper connection with life itself could transform the western approach to mental illness. Instead of being labelled as a lunatic on the brink of madness, there can be genuine support and guidance through the process of spiritual awakening. Over time, more and more healed healers will feel comfortable stepping forward to pave the way toward inner peace for those being called.