"contextual normalcy:" mental health in review... now with life-affirming processes!
While I was in SF, I enjoyed attending a Machine Learning and UX Meetup, regarding the <https://www.feminist.ai/privacypolicy> project concerning "contextual normalcy" ...it occurred to me that this concept, taken to its logical extension, has the potential to actually be *miraculously therapeutic* towards what Durkheim regarded as "anomie:" a mismatch or absence of integration with societal norms (which can lead to feelings of alienation, purposelessness, depression & suicide). It's been notoriously challenging to find effective treatments for something that has such far-reaching implications & deep systemic decay that it has created a prevalent & "significant discrepancy between the ideological theories and values commonly professed and what was actually achievable in everyday life." What possibilities can we think of for us to work towards contextualizing a diversity of cultural norms so that we can stand together on a more stable & mutually respectful socio-economic foundation in the modern intersectional space?
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Contextual Normalcy is a research project which started in the Spring of 2019 that uses community created questions with crowdsourced data to find emergent / unknown patterns in thinking about feelings and normalcy.
The publication in the Summer of 2019 of this anthology of 25 unflinching stories and essays from the front lines of the radical mental health movement could not be more timely:
_We've Been Too Patient: Voices from Radical Mental Health--Stories and Research Challenging the Biomedical Model_
"Overmedication, police brutality, electroconvulsive therapy, involuntary hospitalization, traumas that lead to intense altered states and suicidal thoughts: these are the struggles of those labeled 'mentally ill.' While much has been written about the systemic problems of our mental-health care system, this book gives voice to those with personal experience of psychiatric miscare often excluded from the discussion, like people of color and LGBTQ+ communities. It is dedicated to finding working alternatives to the 'Mental Health Industrial Complex' and shifting the conversation from mental illness to mental health."
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For the past 5 years, I have been inordinately fond of this blog post by David Mente, a practicing LPC from Pittsburg, PA who says...
"Phillip K. Dick’s novel VALIS is a wacky and wild ride. I recommend it though it certainly isn’t for everyone. However, this is not a review but rather an appropriation of scenes in the book that illustrate what I consider a point central to doing psychotherapy. It s creatively based upon PKD’s actual experiences.
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Themes of mental illness, suicide and depression are right there at the start.
When Horselover Fat (AKA PKD) makes his own “spectacular suicide attempt”, he ends up in an inpatient psych unit. His experiences are described in the (4th & 5th) chapters of Valis. *If I had my way, these chapters would be required reading for all mental health practitioners.* His descriptions of his experiences on the ward are brilliant, hilarious and ring true (from my perspective as an outsider practitioner who has tried to still listen to the people that end up on the units).
Eventually, Fat has an interview with his psychiatrist, Doctor Stone. Early in the meeting, 'He could see that Dr. Stone was totally crazy, but in a good way. Dr. Stone was the first person at the North Ward, outside the patients, who had talked to him as if he were human.'
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'Dr. Stone wasn’t insane; Stone was a healer. He held down the right job. Probably he healed many people and in many ways. He adapted his therapy to the individual, not the individual to the therapy.
I’ll be goddamned, Fat thought.
In that simple sentence, 'You’re the authority,' Stone had given Fat back his soul.'(p. 67)
The idea that you can decide what someone needs based solely on a diagnosis, apply specific treatment based on manuals, or other ways treatments are recommended/encouraged based upon minimal information happens too often and are ways the individual is fit to the therapy."
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In a 1978 lecture which was turned into one of his more famous essays, PKD put it rather simply, "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away."
A slight permutation of this line is repeated again in Chapter 5 of VALIS.
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Then, in VALIS Ch. 6, PKD has a conversation with the character Maurice, who is based on his actual therapist from Orange County, Barry Spatz, PhD
“'The Universe is what you make of it,' Maurice said. 'It's what you do with it that counts. It's your responsibility to do something life-promoting with it, not life-destructive.'
'That's the existential position,' Fat said. "Based on the concept that We are what we do, rather than, We are what we think. It finds its first expression in Goethe's Faust, Part One, where Faust says, 'Im Anfang war das Wort.' He's quoting the opening of the Fourth Gospel; 'In the beginning was the Word.' Faust says, 'Nein, Im Anfanf war die Tat.' 'In the beginning was the deed.' From this, all existentialism comes.'
Maurice stared at him as if he were a bug.”
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Although I have occasionally attempted to simplify what is essential for human life, in general... I am ultimately simply staring in the Cosmic Mirror... ultimately responsible for only my own part in this Divine Play, until I have shuffle'd off this mortall coile... although I will fight to aid & insure that others are also able to enjoy these same opportunities!
To optimize human experience:
* maintain homeostasis
* drink clean water
* eat just enough nutritious food
* get deep sleep, but not too much
* discipline yourself with adequate exercise
* practice some kind of grounding & centering ritual
* explore nature with reverence & a sense of humor
* nurture relationships to foster a healthy community
* maintain reciprocal boundaries with fierce kindness
...keep up The Great Work & enjoy The Cosmic Play!
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Yet, life often seems to become much more complicated than a set of simple rules can explain... in honor of & respect for this delightful complexity, I attempted to leave some breadcrumbs in these comments to accompany Nanny Ogg's boisterous blessing... that hopefully will lead us in the direction of Fluidity, Metasystematicity, and the Complete Stance
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"Meta-systematic cognition... reasoning about, and acting on, systems from outside them, without using a system to do so. (Reasoning about systems using another system is systematic, and meta, but not 'meta-systematic' in this sense.) Meta-rationality, then, is 'good' meta-systematic cognition.
...According to Kegan’s framework, developing a meta-systematic way of being affects every dimension of life. It completely reorganizes your self, your relationship with your self, and your relationships with others. That reorganization manifests in structurally identical ways in your family life, your understanding of ethics, how you plan projects, the way you act at work, and so on.
Kegan says that an epistemological shift-a new way of making meaning-underlies all the rest."
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"Metasystematicity is closely related to the complete stance. It is the attitude that systems of meaning are of great value (because meaning is patterned), but none can be complete or fully correct (because meaning is nebulous). Instead, we must deploy multiple systems, comprehend and negotiate the conflicts and synergies among them, and be willing to act even when no system can guide us."
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"The complete stance recognizes that meaningness is both nebulous and patterned. Put another way, it neither fixates nor denies meanings. Or, equivalently: it enables the realistic and creative possibilities that emerge when you let go of eternalism and nihilism simultaneously"
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"I sense, tentatively, a new mode emerging, which I’ll call fluidity... approximates the complete stance, just as modernity approximated eternalism and postmodernity approximates nihilism. If the complete stance is accurate and functional, then the fluid mode should be too"
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"Fluidity addresses atomization’s defects with watercraft that sail the sea of meanings. (This nautical metaphor will get quite complex, I’m afraid!) These ships must be collaborative, creative, improvised, intimate, transient, beautiful, playful, and spiritual"
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So, what about those situations in which people cannot find any kind of meaning anymore & decide to take their own lives... whether in anomie or through a variety of other suicidal forms?
Hail to the Lunar New Year... from the abodes of night!
"(In The Myth of Sissyphus,) Camus argues that there is no meaning to life. He disapproves of the many philosophers who 'have played on words and pretended to believe that refusing to grant a meaning to life necessarily leads to declaring that it is not worth living.' Life has no absolute meaning. In spite of the human's irrational 'nostalgia' for unity, for absolutes, for a definite order and meaning to the 'not me' of the universe, no such meaning exists in the silent, indifferent universe. Between this yearning for meaning and eternal verities and the actual condition of the universe there is a gap that can never be filled. The confrontation of the irrational, longing human heart and the indifferent universe brings about the notion of the absurd. The absurd is born of this confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world.
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Doesn't this make a futile pessimistic chaos of life? Wouldn't suicide be a legitimate way out of a meaningless life? 'No.' 'No.' answers Camus. Although the absurd cancels all chances of eternal freedom it magnifies freedom of action. Suicide is 'acceptance at its extreme,' it is a way of confessing that life is too much for one. This is the only life we have; and even though we are aware, in fact, because we are aware of the absurd, we can find value in this life. The value is in our freedom, our passion, and our revolt.
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The absurd is a revolt against tomorrow and as such comes to terms with the present moment. Suicide consents to the absurd as final and limitless while revolt is a an ongoing struggle with the absurd and brings with it man's redemption."
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But eventually, one way or another... we must actually confront death, itself... though it may come in the form of an accident, a pathogen, a predator animal, or any of the neighboring human monsters!
What dreames may come?
"Look, no matter how powerful and convincing your culture is, it is ultimately a symbol. All cultural constructs are symbolic, they’re human creations; however, death is a very real, physical phenomenon. And the point that Becker makes very simply is that no symbol, regardless of its power or potency, will ever be sufficient to overcome the physical reality of death. It’s like mixing apples and oranges.
Consequently, and I’ve got to degenerate into some psychoanalytical language, which is probably okay for some, less so for others, what Becker says, again borrowing from William James, he says, 'You know what, therefore no matter how good your culture is or how much you believe in it, there’s always going to be some residual anxiety about death.' And you’re not aware of that, he claims, because that anxiety is repressed.
And then, using Freud’s ideas, what Becker says is that repressed anxiety is projected onto another group of individuals, either inside or outside of your culture, that you designate as the all-encompassing repository of evil, the eradication of which would make life on Earth as it is in heaven. He calls them scapegoats, and I think we’re familiar with them; they’re either in-house or external ones. Either way, Becker says, we’ve got a problem; either you run into people here that are different and that’s a problem, or you declare somebody else to be different and that’s a problem. Because what Becker then goes on to do, borrowing very heavily from some sociologists that we’re very fond of, Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann in a book called _The Social Construction of Reality,_ what Becker does following Berger and Luckmann is to talk about the psychological processes that are instigated when people encounter others who do not share their beliefs, or encounter somebody who they have designated as different."
Regarding this scenario, I have always been a proponent of libertine philosophy in one form or another... and I particularly enjoy Frank Herbert's maxim known as the sign of profound accord:
"We are here to remove a primary weapon from the hands of disputant religions. That weapon--the claim to possession of the one and only revelation."
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"The Great Correction"
"We may be decent people, acting compassionately in our daily lives, but when we live in unjust hierarchical systems, being decent day to day isn't enough. No matter what the specific topic of any Last Sunday, we tried to keep this in the foreground: We live in an imperial society structured by a predatory corporate capitalism, with identities shaped by white supremacy and patriarchy, in a technological fundamentalist society dominated by the faith that we can invent our way out of an ecological crisis."
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separatist ideologies & violence
it certainly seems like it's a rigged game... the only remaining peaceful groups of human culture or nations can only hope that they can find safety from the violent monsters in the world through maintaining agreements with ostensibly benevolent inter-national military forces, which ensures military protection against aggressive powers? just make sure you pay your taxes, or protection money, or fealty... pay up to the company store!
How about we stop outsourcing our security to the proverbial barbarians & develop resilient communities in the first place?
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"math is hard!"
There's a brief summary of game theory in terms of it's application to ethics, in a this article by Carl Sagan, entitled, "A New Way To Think About Rules To Live By," which ends with the following summary of the most basic non-zero sum game, The Prisoner's Dilemma:
` ` The Prisoner's Dilemma is a very simple game. Real life is considerably more complex. But its central lessons are striking: Be friendly at first meetings. Do not envy. Be generous; forgive your enemy if he forgives you. Be neither a tyrant or a patsy. Retaliate proportionately to an intentional injury (within the constraints of the rule of law). And make your behavior fairly (although not perfectly) clear and consistent. What would the world be like if more of us, individuals as well as nations, lived by these rules? ' '
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please note the correlations explored by Dr. Thomas Palaima & Bill Broyles in the UT plan II symposium "How War Changes Lives," and the Plan II/Classics Dept. course, "Myths of Violence & War in Ancient & Modern Culture," which compared the Iliad & the Oddysey to Vietnam-era protest songs (lyrical explorations of the duty of citizens to voice their conscience concerning ethics in war) and the corresponding difficulty of the warrior returning home to civilian life. Although the American Civil War is perhaps a better direct comparison to the Trojan War, wherever&whenever a conflict is set, the basic themes are similar: how can we all experience the camraderie shared between warriors, which is so rarely paralleled in civilian life (how many of our civilian co-workers would throw themselves on a grenade to save our lives?) - in war, we find a true expression of an equation proving that the "superior person" is one whose individual action meets the need of the collective (as above, so below) and vice-versa.
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BURNING MAN THROUGH THE EYES OF AN ARMY SNIPER
...The interior walls of the Temple are covered with photos of friends and family members that have passed away. People stood in the corners wiping away tears, while others were writing notes that would never be read. The energy was heavy as people said their final goodbyes, attempting to rid themselves of the pain they’d been living with. One particular note caught my eye: “I forgive you for the pain you caused me, father. I forgive you for molesting me for so many years. I can’t live with this hatred anymore, and I need to let you go.”
As I continued walking, I saw something all too familiar: a pair of combat boots on the ground with a patrol cap and dog tags hanging on the beam. I walked over and knelt down to look at the photo of a soldier - his name was Dominguez - with a note pinned underneath. “Son. I dearly miss you and am so sorry you didn’t see Angel. She’s beautiful and is growing up so fast. Angie is taking such good care of her and is an amazing mother. I’m angry that I can never hold you again but you were so proud to fight for what you knew was right.” The letter continued with more about the life of this man’s family and the things he’s missed since his death. The daughter he never met. The Gold Star wife doing her best to raise their child. Tears streamed down my face as I sat next to his memorial.
Eyes blurry with tears, I thought about Dominguez and the sacrifice he made. I thought of all the friends that I’ve buried over the years - not just from war, but also from suicide. My heart pounding, I grabbed a notepad and started to write letters to my friends. I thanked them for their actions and talked of the adventures we had planned for after the deployment. I told them that I wished they could see their 30s and all of the beautiful things the world had to offer them. I sat and wrote letter after letter, letting the pen flow with conviction and sadness.
The final letter was to my wife. I apologized for all the time we spent apart over the years. Deployment after deployment, phone call after phone call. I vowed to never leave again and that we would spend more time together traveling the world to make up for it. I vowed to be a better person and to let go of my anger and my sadness. Ten years of fighting in a combat zone had taken a toll on me, and I carried some baggage. But this was it. This was why I went to Burning Man. I needed to cry and process the mental and physical conflict that was eating me up inside.
I stood up, dusted off my pants, and wiped my eyes. Looking at Dominguez’s memorial one last time, I came to attention and brought up my hand slowly for a salute. A woman and a man walked over to me and lightly rested their hands on my shoulders. I finished the salute and turned around to see them with tears in their eyes. They leaned in and hugged me tightly. I began to sob, hugging them even tighter, and we all cried together. As we released from the embrace, the man looked at me and said, “I love you. I know you needed that.” I thanked them and then walked back into the abyss of the playa...
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reality check, please!
the desert is definitely a place for people to encounter an initiatory experience, but not unless you immerse yourself deeply enough to encounter what some have referred to as profound isolation... in such an alien landscape, which is completely inhospitable to life in any form, one becomes significantly more aware of one's own individuality and personal needs for survival (AKA, "If I don't feel like I might die, then it's not !"). Ironically, this also often leads people to recognize one another's needs: although each of us must be radically self-reliant, we also recognize respect & particpate in communal efforts (AKA, "If we do not survive together, then we perish apart!"). People can certainly recognize this relationship in any environment, but it is perhaps significantly more prevalent in the stark wasteland of the Black Rock Desert (or in the middle of an Ocean or on Mars)?
Which bring us to the age-old hermetic question...
"In times of difficulty or danger, in whom do you put your trust?"
I make no claims that anyone has an ultimate, objective, correct, or even authoritative answer to this question... I only ask people to show me how they put their answer into action through life-affirming processes for themselves & their community.
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From Shock to Awe asks, ‘how do we heal our deepest wounds?’
An intimate and raw look at the transformational journey of two combat veterans suffering from severe trauma as they abandon pharmaceuticals to seek relief through the mind-expanding world of psychedelics. Recent scientific research coupled with a psychedelic renaissance reveals that these substances can be used to heal PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) for individuals and their families. Beyond the personal stories, From Shock to Awe also raises fundamental questions about war, the pharmaceutical industry, and the US legal system.
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The devastating effects of PTSD and trauma can be treated and healed with a relatively low-cost and fast-acting treatment called ‘psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy’. Psychotherapy used in combination with ayahuasca, MDMA, and/or cannabis. Psychoactive substances, also known as entheogens, hallucinogens, and psychedelics, have been used throughout human history.
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In addition to many states legalizing cannabis for medical (and in some cases, even recreational) use, the FDA and DEA have approved clinical trials of certain psychedelic substances. Researchers at some of the nation’s top universities such as Johns Hopkins, NYU and UCLA are publishing scientific papers that show a startlingly high level of efficacy using psychedelic-assisted therapy for a range of conditions, from end-of-life anxiety to depression to addiction to PTSD.
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"My theory about why 'The Call of Cthulhu' and Lovecraft's fiction resonate so strongly with people," (Greg) Stafford says, "is that despite being set in an arbitrary, impersonal, cruel universe, they show that small, individual acts of dignity and goodness are possible." - from _Return of the Weird_ by Zack Stentz
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And sometimes, if we are fortunate enough to survive all these mysteries, challenges, & adventures... then we can begin to see our heroic journey begin for real through the healing process, recovering from grievous wounds inflicted upon individual bodies, as well as entire civilizations... such as in The Trojan War above, or Persephone's assimilation of Hades below
Senator RFK acknowledged the audience's emotions about MLK's assassination, by referring to his own grief at the murder of his brother, President JFK and, quoting a passage from the play Agamemnon, said: "My favorite poet was Aeschylus. He once wrote: 'Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.' What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black... Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world."
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In analyzing correlations between specific itemized beliefs listed in the "Just World Scale" and the "Rape Myths Acceptance Scale," certain obvious patterns emerge...
Rape is the only crime in which the victim must prove his or her innocence.
There is an age old question: Whose fault is it when someone is raped?
The answer: *Rape is always the fault of the rapist.*
"In real life, however, rape victims are brutalized, ignored and harassed by the system that is designed to help them. They are traumatized stigmatized or shamed for life if they are not killed during the attack." p. 262, The Encyclopedia of Rape
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"Victim blaming is holding the victim responsible for what has happened to her/him. One way in which victim blaming is perpetuated is through rape myths. Rape myths allow us to blame the victim and are often common false beliefs."
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The most well known theory behind victim blaming is the just world hypothesis. "Individuals that have a strong belief in a just world can have this belief challenged when they encounter a victim of random misfortune such as a rape victim. The individual wants to believe that the world is a safe, just place where people get what they deserve and deserve what they get.
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The invulnerability theory states that rape victims are a glaring reminder of our own vulnerability. No one likes to think they could loose control over their own body or life. By deciding a rape victim did something concrete to deserve the assault the observer creates a false sense of safety. If they can avoid doing that particular thing or action then they create the illusion of invulnerability for themselves.
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Let us storm the gates of the charnel grounds, at the boundaries between the worlds...
navigating a complex & delicate balance between integrating our shadow & shining our light
https://aethyrflux.livejournal.com/245839.html
A few years ago, I heard a story on NPR about Tibetan monks who were
tortured by the Chinese, and since they would use transcendental
meditation techniques to rise above the suffering... but when they had
escaped to safety, they found that ***their meditation was triggering
PTSD episodes!*** eventually, they figured out out that more
body-centered techniques like qigong & tai chi (& i would sugest
ecstatic dance) helped them actually release the trauma
An esteemed colleague of mine referred me to this research on somatic experiencing that indicates that when a prey animal is captured by a predator, it will use the immobility/freeze response ("playing possum") to survive until it can possibly escape... and then, if it does escape, when it gets to safety, it will *shake* off the tension... literally a full-body shaking, like an orgasm of celebrating life!
The extra good news is that humans are extremely adept at developing a
myelinated vagus nerve system to engage social systems (including
love) as an alternative to fight, flight or freeze reactions...
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"just ask the axis"
Just as there are terribly debilitating side-effects to the body (the space punies) & mind (asthenia) from being in zero gravity... fortunately, there are other results of space travel that are considerably more beneficial (salutogenesis and the overview effect, for instance)
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LOVE: suspension of disbelief... within reason?
One friend of mine (who is a medical doctor) provided a clue to me a couple of years ago: when this person was observing alternative healing practices, a certain degree of suspension of disbelief was necessary, but overall it was recognized that there is an emotional content to many of these methods which is comforting to people (perhaps the beneficial action is in development of a therapeutic relationship and not in the treatments themselves, sometimes?)... and whatever the reason, it is a good thing that people receive unconditional love, listening, and guidance from their healing practitioners. My comment at the time was, "i am a skeptic, but i will joyously celebrate the power of love!"
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One of my favorite documentaries, Happy was inspired by the positive psychology movement, "primarily concerned with using the psychological theory, research and intervention techniques to understand the positive, adaptive, creative and emotionally fulfilling aspects of human behavior."
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pleasure production & harm reduction...
isn't it funny how many questions of ethics so often return to the question of what we eat?
The Covenant of Survival states:
Some must die, so that others may live!
Similarly, Callahan's Law is often stated as
"Shared pain is lessened; shared joy, increased - thus do we refute entropy."