Page 36 - NAMAH-Apr-2023

Namah Vol. 31, Issue 1, 24th April 2023

relief, a deeper healing process is required to
restore equilibrium at a fundamental level.

The loss of equilibrium at the mental level
happens when there is a temporary clouding
and loss of rational intelligence. However,
the source of this clouding is not in the mind
itself but in the vital being. When bipolar
disorder manifests, the vital being swings
between two extremes of high and low,
Disequilibrium of the Being overriding the otherwise normal surface
personality of the mental being. During
From an Integral Psychology perspective: these episodes, we can observe a heightened
emotional intensity and with it the vital being
“An illness is simply, always, in every case, even grips the mental being and swings it towards
when the doctors say that there are microbes an elation of depression. In the process,
— in every case, a disequilibrium in the being: mental intelligence becomes subservient
a disequilibrium among the various functions, to emotional swings and supplies all the
disequilibrium among the forces (1).” narratives to support it.

Since there are many parts and planes to our The cognitive process of the mental being
being, we need to identify the parts of the and its meaning-making process gets highly
being where disequilibrium has occurred. coloured and distorted by the emotional
In the case of bipolar disorder, the most being. During that period, trying to engage
visible symptom is a disequilibrium of the with the person through the agency of
vital being as well as the mental being. reason doesn’t work as the power of reason
Modern Western medical science is tracing is clouded or submerged by the upsurge of
disequilibrium at the physical and chemical emotions. We may safely assume that within
level in the body all the way to the genes. the individual, it is somewhere in the domain
However, from an integral perspective, of the vital being the seeds of disequilibrium
the physical and chemical aspects are seen are located, especially the subconscient regions
as the mechanics of expression rather than of the vital being. An analytical process may
the source of the problem. While modern unearth childhood traumas buried in the
psychiatric approaches try to resolve the subconscient as plausible causes. However
disorder by restoring the chemical balance of at a certain stage of life what awakens these
the body through medication, it is more like subconcient parts of being and brings them
suppressing social unrest with armed forces. forth to overtake the surface personality
The psychological roots and the personalities requires some rationale.
behind the unrest remain untransformed and
they have just retreated into their hideouts, The Fundamental Cause of Disequilibrium
only to return when they get an opportunity.
While such medication can give temporary There is a very insightful perspective given

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