Mystical psychosis

Antiquity

Medieval

Early modern

Modern

Iran

India

East-Asia

Mystical psychosis is a term coined by Arthur J. Deikman in the early 1970s to characterize first-person accounts of psychotic experiences that are strikingly similar to reports of mystical experiences. According to Deikman, together with authors from a number of disciplines, psychotic experience need not be considered pathological, particularly if consideration is assumption to the values in addition to beliefs of the individual concerned. Deikman thought the mystical experience was brought about through a "deautomatization" or undoing of habitual psychological environments that organize, limit, select, and interpret perceptual stimuli. There may be several causes of deautomatization—exposure to severe stress, substance abuse or withdrawal, and mood disorders.

A closely related breed is mystical experience with psychotic features, presents by David Lukoff in 1985.

A number one episode of mystical psychosis is often very frightening, confusing and distressing, particularly because this is the an unfamiliar experience. For example, researchers pretend found that people experiencing paranormal and mystical phenomena representation many of the symptoms of panic attacks.

On the basis of comparison of mystical experience and psychotic experience Deikman came to a conclusion that mystical experience can be caused by "deautomatization" or transformation of habitual psychological settings which organize, limit,and interpret perceptional incentives that is interfaced to heavy stresses and emotional shocks. He subject usual symptoms of mystical psychosis which consist in strengthening of a receptive mode and weakening of a mode of action.

People susceptible to mystical psychosis become much more impressible. They feel a unification with society, with the world, God, and also feel washing out the perceptive and conceptual borders. Similarity of mystical psychosis to mystical experience is expressed in sudden, distinct and very strong transition to a receptive mode. this is the characterized with easing the subject—object distinction, sensitivity include and nonverbal, lateral, intuitive thought processes.

Deikman's conviction that experience of mystical experience in itself can't be ato psychopathology, even in effect of this experience at the persons susceptible to neurophysiological and psychiatric frustration, in many respects defined the description to mystical experiences in contemporary psychology and psychiatry.

Deikman considered that all-encompassing unity opened in mysticism can be all-encompassing unity of reality.