A Parapsychologist Writes...

An important thought came to me today, as follows:


'Hearing voices' might one day be considered to be not enough to diagnose someone as mentally ill. Even if you hear abusive voices. Surely mental illness would be diagnosed by further information, such as a person's rationality and so on. Simply put, just because you 'hear voices' (with your mind, directly), does not mean you are insane.


Hearing voices is something that the culture in my part of the world has traditionally feared, but many saints are said to have heard the voice of God or angels. If that is possible for one person, why not for anyone of us? And while we're on the subject, to consider that hearing God's voice or the voice of angels is merely a power belonging to saints and those considered great human beings is to lead the innocent straight towards delusions of grandeur...

For many people, though, hearing voices is something special, a spiritual gift and sign of greater spiritual evolution. But then there is a whole 'spectrum' of people with this awakening of the mind, so people like me, and perhaps any one of you reading this page, are caught at the edges of the spectrum and suffering because of their heightened awareness. However, for every single person who is psychic and suffering, there must be thousands of people who are very happy with their mental abilities and call them gifts. Nowadays, the occult and the esoteric are expanding at a fantastic rate as fields of knowledge - they are becoming less and less esoteric. Psychic development is popular and big business for publishers. Ordinary people are developing their mental sensitivities. What will this do to psychology? Eventually these scientists will have to stop calling ordinary people insane. We also need to stop making these gifts extraordinary, so that people are aware of their potential and do not get lost in paranoia if they awaken.

I admit, as I have done before, that I have experienced insanity - delusions and hallucinations - although at present I would say my rationality falls within boundaries of normality, and I would say that my perceptions are real. All the trouble comes from the division between science and religion, and from psychology being a young science that has no spiritual perspective.

Our mainstream science of psychology is young, does not have all the answers, and is still evolving. I think I can forgive them.


There was once a young person called Jeanne who heard the voice of saints and angels. She is now called a saint. She was told by angels to save her nation from being conquered - look her up! (She is usually known as Joan of Arc, in English). I have adopted her as patron saint of people who hear voices! Which I don't think there is one in Christianity; we have patron saints for mental illness, but not for clairaudience / unusual auditory perceptions. So I humbly commend you all to her supervision and care. Amen.

Theory Of Having A Disposition To Psychosis AND To Psychic Sensitivity

A theory for the spiritual believers among the readership of Diagnosis: Schizophrenia!: here is a 'what if' scenario for you.


What if, just as some people have a natural disposition to psychosis, given the necessary circumstances and emotional conditions, maybe some of the same people also have a natural disposition to 'psychic' receptivity! Then you will have someone who will have a psychotic breakdown and psychic awakening at the same time [or psychic and / or spiritual awakening at the same time as a psychotic breakdown]. This would account for a dual situation of psychosis and psychic phemonena in the same individual.

This will be especially true if someone has been over-using spiritualising drugs, for example cannabis, as I did. (The really important thing to know about cannabis, for education and safety, is that it can be spiritualising, it can take you deeper - it's not just for fun and relaxation.) This is because any psychoactive drug can cause mental ill health - and if they are actively spiritualising as well, it makes sense that they will lead to an awakening of psychic receptivity. And that equates to a hard time - not just being misunderstood, but yourself misunderstanding and getting a bit lost by being 'delusional' and psychic at once, feeling self-doubt and possibly the negative situation of having an excess of sensitivity or having problems with negative energies or thought-forms.

I think all that sounds pretty reasonable, if you have a spirituality-inclusive world-view. It feels nice to 'talk' to the spiritually-minded! Usually I am defending my views, as if to "an unbeliever"! (Apologies if you are feeling left out, you who do not believe in an extra-sensory reality).