ESP & Spiritual Experiences in Mental Illness

As any of you who have read my very first post will know- I was diagnosed with Bi-Polar Affective Disorder about 15 years ago - though it now appears that my "episodes" are triggered by failings in my physical health- which is a bit precarious at the best of times. During my very first manic episode I described seeing & feeling a vision of "God/Love?peace??) - whatever you want to call it, and in some ways it has haunted me all these years- it was the most incredible feeling in the world and yet that feeling seems so unachievable now and it makes me so sad. I have not had any other "visionary" experiences but I have had a few more manic episodes since then - all following medical crises or surgery - go figure eh?? Anyway - over the years I don't know what has happened to me but it seems there is a kind of telepathy operating between myself and the people closest to me such as my mother. We'll go to ring each other at the same time, or she will pop in with a treat that I'd been just thinking of going to the shop to buy. Friends that pop into my mind for whatever reason will ring or text me not long after. And I can be doing not much at all and think of a song - turn the radio on and its playing-or is played very soon after!
At the start of the year I was hospitalised in both a public and a psychiatric hospital for almost 3 months due to a severe worsening in my physical health and a subsequent manic episode. It was a dreadful time - and looking back on it I just can't believe some of the things that i was thinking - anyone who has experienced any form of psychosis for whatever reason will know what I mean. Your identity is severely compromised. It has been 5 months since I got out now and I am just so anxious and depressed all the time life is a real struggle. When I was in the hospital however - although a Psych Institution is somewhat like a prison- I met some of the most amazing incredibly nice people you could ever hope to find. By default one sort of befriends most of the patients as we all have something in common and are all facing similar battles. What freaked me out though was the fact that while I was in this altered state of mind-it was as though I was a transistor radio transmitting my thoughts to other people and/or picking up on theirs before they even voiced them. It was pretty darn scary at times- especially when the patient(s) were scary people- the minority to be sure. And some of the topics were frightening-doomsday stuff etc. A friend who is very spiritual suggested i may be somewhat psychic but haven't learnt to control it yet.How does one do this without having to be crazy first??!!! I have always been a very intuitive person but am certainly not used to people being able to pick up my own thoughts/projections in the way they did when I was surrounded by others who were all also in an altered state of mind. I also seemed to be able to communicate with animals during that time and it was truly magical-just though their eyes and body language. So many synchronicities happened too at that time that my life now seems almost unbearably dull. How can I get that "otherworldly" communication back? I know I was crazy at the time- but it is amazing what crazy people experience-how much of it is truly mystical & perhaps the energy of the universe itself being able to penetrate an otherwise narrow and closed mind? Would be great to hear from anyone who's had similar experiences - either with visions/signs/esp & telepathic happenings? I miss being manic in a way I am sad to say - because when that is replaced with boring reality life is just too dull for words!!

I liked reading Thomas Szasz's books on mental illness... like The Myth of Mental Illness.

[blackraven]

sunstrucknz - I won’t deny your spiritual experience during states of mental illness, however, you don’t have to maintain a mental illness in order to prosper in psychic abilities. In fact, when treating a mental illness, you are just as likely to hone you psychic skills and fine-tune them because you rid yourself of imbalances and psychosis. Telepathy and esp are strong indications that you have psychic connections with your world around you and are able to communicate at a higher frequency due to psychic abilities. I wouldn’t concentrate on those abilities being activated by “episodes” triggered by failing health at all, but rather concentrate your efforts when you're healthy all the time and make your telepathy and esp skills a way of life/a habit. In time you will find that your reading of people and transmitting thoughts will become second nature.

Blackraven

Thank you Blackraven - that would be a nice way to live-I didn't mean I wanted to be sick all the time to experience these things- its just that for some reason my mind seems a much more open vessel when my brain is supposedly out of balance - according to the doctors! What they don't realise is that 99% of people I met in Hospital also seemed to be having religious -type experiences and thus we were all on the same wavelength. It would be fantastic to be able to tap into that every day or whenever I need to as I know some people in the world can do. I am finding it very hard to get over the huge impact of having a visionary/spiritual experience and adjust back into a world which is so bereft of such things in everyday life. I guess I just need to find the right path. Things made so much sense and were so crystal clear when I was "ill" - now I can't figure anything out!

Originally Posted by sunstrucknz

my mind seems a much more open vessel when my brain is supposedly out of balance - according to the doctors! What they don't realise is that 99% of people I met in Hospital also seemed to be having religious -type experiences and thus we were all on the same wavelength.

Thanx for sharing this insight... I half suspected ,but was not aware of this.

I seen visions and heard voices for 6 years everyday and I went on a double antipsychotic,quit smoking,doing cocaine became a vegan gluten free and it is only making sense to me now in the last month as I am chaos magic.I attended 5 churches weekly and know my cards and craps.I have illiminate influence and embraced shamanism first to get to chaos level.Have not seen a vision in a year ..it does not really go much higher.Nothing made sense at first.Still hear low volume soundwaves.STudying Freud helped.I had my buddhist wedding through mania that led to where I stand now.Every little thing is important.

I am bipolar also. I get grandiose manic episodes about once a year. I also get consumed with spiritual thoughts during mania. I typically return to atheism when I am not manic, but ever since my last episode I have more seriously considered spiritual matters. I think that irrational and rational thought are both important. We live in a mundane world, but we are capable of making it more magical.
I've recently been thinking more about the transfer of psychic energy. Is there information between people without words? I'm not referring to reading one's thoughts but some different level of communication. I haven't researched this, I'm just trying to think about it on my own. I've tried practicing this on my wife but that just freaks her out that I'm having residual mania. I think people are generally not comfortable being gazed at with no talking. We feel we need to talk to fill the space. I say let us enjoy this space and see what happens. I'm sure others have already thought of this and are already doing it.

Hi, I have been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
The Chaos Magus person above has the right idea.
Your Bi Polar is basically your sub conscious mind yelling that you want more excitement in life.
You NEED to study and learn and grow and run as hard as you can. Put your damn hearts into some use and let it make you TRY.

All these experiences you're going through is your deeper self trying to get you to know more about your true real self. It seems the only way your subconscious mind can show you who you really are: a magically being full of intensity, wonder, excitement, endless possibilities, is through giving you a massive imbalance and showing you how great your potential is. You can make yourself as happy as you are when you're manic. That's you, not a sickness. You are the crazy genius in your head. Water the seeds.

You NEED to learn about every religion, philosophy, psycology, art, and just learn what, who and why you are.
You're feeling dead inside. Your life has no fire. There should be a burning raging inferno inside wanting to live each day with ferocious passion.

Lately, I'm just learning that I'm made of tiger blood.

So are you.

What is your wildest wildest dreams?
I want you to write an a4 page of your wildest most vivid dreams fantasy a and imagination.

Then do it again more vividly...
Get your passion fire burning.
Then again.
Get your imagination burning with petrol.

What Do you want?
You are bored with life... Fix it.

edited by SF staff

[Saggi]

Have a good look into Empathy too

I have had an amazing, weird, sometimes quite harrowing spiritual journey the last 6 years and the last 3/4 months things have been coming together in a way for me to see that in fact I wasn't going mad and that a lot of it I was picking up from someone else,,,

Love and hugs

Jo

XxXx