Theos-Talk Archives (May 1996 Message tl00444)

There was an article in the April 29 issue of the "Los Angeles
Times", "Unraveling a Cruel Mystery of the Mind", that discussed a
new breakthrough in the study of schizophrenia. The article
contained some interesting information, and makes me wonder about
how that form of mental illness might be described in theosophical
terms.

There is a box that defines schizophrenia:

LA> What is Schizophrenia?
LA>
LA> Schizophrenia is not, as was once widely believed, a case of
LA> multiple-personality disorder. A rundown on the condition:
LA>
LA> * Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness characterized by
LA>   inappropriate emotions, hallucinations, and a disordered
LA>   thought process.
LA>
LA> * Some medical journals call it "the worst disease affecting
LA>   mankind."
LA>
LA> * Disease strikes in late teens or early 20s.
LA>
LA> * It affects about 2.5 million Americans, or about 1% of the
LA>   population.
LA>
LA> * A growing body of scientific evidence indicates that brain
LA>   abnormalities, rather than social conditions are the cause.
LA>
LA> * In the last six years, a host of new anti psychotic drugs
LA>   has shown great promise in helping schizophrenics make
LA>   steady recoveries.

The major characteristics are inappropriate emotions,
hallucinations, and a disordered thought process. All three would
come from a perception of the subjective "spheres of effects" that
surround our objective, physical earth.

When someone sees into the astral light, and what they see is a
reflection of the content of their own psyche, we have an
hallucination. But is it "real"? Yes, but it is subjective to the
individual seeing it, and it is not physical in nature nor
objective in the sense that it exists in its own right and can
remain unaltered by how we might like it to be.

This "sight" is no more real than the experiences that we stage
for ourselves in the devachan.  Those devachanic experiences are
self-made, and represent the working out the content of our
consciousness.  They don't represent interaction with other
beings.  The same is true of these "hallucinations" or glimpses
of the astral light.

The inappropriate emotions would come from a failure to clearly
relate to this physical world, being "out-of-focus" as it were,
being focused somewhat on the non-physical realms. The person
would be responding to internal, subjective events, and not
clearly distinguishing the people and events before them
in the physical world from these subjective experiences.

The disordered thought process would be due, perhaps, to the
constant intrusion of thoughts and images into the mind.

----

As to the new findings:

LA> What Hollister Found
LA>
LA> Meggin Hollister's research gives the first indication of a
LA> link between a mother's immune system and schizophrenia.
LA> What she discovered:
LA>
LA> 1. The problem starts with a blood-type difference between
LA>    mother and fetus -- for example, if fetus has positive
LA>    blood type while mother has negative type.
LA>
LA> 2. Through a tearing of the placenta or another mechanism,
LA>    fetal blood comes into contact with the mother's blood.
LA>
LA> 3. Mother's immune system launches response, producing
LA>    harmful antibody capable of crossing placenta and
LA>    reaching fetus.
LA>
LA> 4. Antibodies affect fetal brain development, possibly
LA>    leading to schizophrenia.

I would expect that the sort of brain change that is represented
in schizophrenia is, as said, a breakdown in the normal brain
formation, leading to an abnormal experience of life. It is not
the sort of brain change that spontaneously arises as a "mutation"
or evolutionary step forward.

My thinking is that the future faculties and powers that await
our race are not along the lines of seeing subjective
psychological content as through it were "real".  They are not
leading towards a greater emphasis on the subjective spheres of
effects, the backstage to life, populated by spooks and
elementals.  They lead, rather, I think, towards greater powers
of understanding and comprehension, and towards powers over
manifest nature, over nature as found on this and other spheres
of causes.

Evolution lies in growing *powers of mind*, not powers of sense
perception. The ability to learn and understand mathematics, for
instance, is a much "higher faculty" or "inner power" than the
ability to see what color a rock is on the nth subplane of the
astral. The senses we have provide us with an appropriate
container for working on that evolution, and rebelling against
them is like an impatient child, bored with learning, yearning to
escape the confines of the classroom, wanting to run out and play
at the upcoming recess.

It is a special blessing to be born into this world, with the
objectivity and ability to acquire sentience that we have. If we
take advantage of this opportunity, we can make great strides
towards enlightenment and towards the "saving" of others. The
choice, though, is ours to make as individuals. Some opt out,
choosing the path of the Pratyeka Buddha, seeking solitary bliss.
Others stick it out, supporting the never-ending process of
bringing light, love, and upliftment into the world.

-- Eldon