The mystic experience: a psychiatric reflection.
Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie March 1, 1979 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1177/070674377902400206 via PubMed
Summary
The paper reviews the phenomenology of mystical experiences across various contexts, including epilepsy, toxicity, organic brain syndromes, major psychoses, and normal individuals. It highlights the impact of these experiences on personality and addresses two fallacies that psychiatrists may encounter: defining mystical experiences solely in pathological terms and speculating without proper philosophical or theological understanding.
Study at a glance
| Design | review |
|---|---|
| Population | varied contexts including individuals with epilepsy, psychoses, and normal persons |
| Key finding | Mystical experiences can occur in both pathological and normal contexts, impacting personality and presenting challenges for psychiatric interpretation. |
Abstract
This paper reviews the phenomenology of the mystical experience and its varied contexts epilepsy, toxicity, organic brain syndromes, the major psychoses and hysterical dissociative states as well as in apparently normal persons. The impact of the experience on the personality is noted and its significance briefly reviewed. The author notes that two fallacies await the unwary psychiatrist: the fallacy of reductionism which defines the mystical experience in pathological terms only; and the fallacy of speculation without adequate philosophical or theological tools.