Mental Illness or Altered Consciousness? An Ontological Inquiry into the Boundary between Psychosis and Mystical Experience

This study interrogates the ontological boundary between pathological psychosis and transcendent mystical experiences through an interdisciplinary lens. Analyzing clinical psychiatry’s diagnostic frameworks (DSM-۵, ICD-۱۱) alongside phenomenological accounts of mysticism (Islamic Sufism, Christian mysticism, and Buddhist enlightenment), the paper reveals striking structural parallels: altered perception of reality, auditory/visual phenomena, and dissolution of ego boundaries. Philosophically engaging with thinkers like Mulla Sadra, Carl Jung, and William James, it proposes a 'spectrum theory of consciousness' that challenges the reductive medicalization of anomalous mental states. The findings advocate for a paradigm shift in psychiatry—one that integrates spiritual epistemologies while maintaining clinical rigor—and offer ethical implications for treating altered states in mental healthcare.

کلیدواژه ها:

Consciousness Studies ، Spiritual Emergency ، Ontology of Madness ، Transpersonal Psychiatry