Between Worlds

# Between Worlds: The Intersections of Shamanic Journeys and Bipolar Psychosis

## Introduction

Across cultures and throughout human history, there have been individuals who experience reality differently from the majority. In traditional societies, some of these people became shamans—healers who navigate between ordinary and non-ordinary states of consciousness. In modern Western societies, similar experiences are often diagnosed as mental health conditions like bipolar disorder with psychotic features. Yet the similarities between shamanic experiences and certain mental health conditions are striking enough to warrant deeper exploration.

This piece examines the intriguing parallels between shamanic experiences and bipolar psychosis, not to romanticize mental illness or dismiss the real suffering it can cause, but to consider how different frameworks of understanding might offer complementary insights into these profound alterations of consciousness.

## The Initial Crisis: Calling vs. Episode

### Shamanic Perspective

In many traditional cultures, the shamanic journey begins with what anthropologists call the "shamanic crisis" or "shamanic illness." This is often a spontaneous, overwhelming experience that may include:

- Vivid visions and hearing voices

- Feeling possessed by spirits or other entities

- A sense of being dismembered, dying, and reborn

- Journeys to other worlds or realms

- Receiving special knowledge or messages from ancestors or spirits

- Heightened sensitivity to energies and natural forces

This crisis is interpreted as a "calling" from the spirits—an invitation (or demand) to take on the role of shaman. The individual must either accept this calling and learn to work with these experiences, or potentially remain in a state of chronic crisis.

### Bipolar/Psychosis Perspective

The onset of bipolar disorder, particularly during manic episodes with psychotic features, can share remarkable similarities:

- Hallucinations and hearing voices

- Grandiose beliefs or feelings of special powers/abilities

- Racing thoughts and unusual connections between ideas

- Feeling guided by external forces

- Heightened sensory experiences and synchronicities

- Profound spiritual insights or religious preoccupations

- Disrupted sleep patterns and high energy states

In Western medical contexts, these experiences are seen as symptoms of an illness requiring treatment, rather than as potentially meaningful spiritual experiences.

## Perception of Reality: Different Ways of Knowing

### Shamanic Perspective

Shamans work with a model of reality that includes:

- Multiple worlds or planes of existence

- Communication with non-physical entities (spirits, ancestors, gods)

- The ability to travel between realms in an altered state

- Recognition of meaningful patterns and omens in ordinary events

- A permeable boundary between self and other, material and spiritual

These alternate realities are considered just as real as ordinary reality—simply less accessible to most people.

### Bipolar/Psychosis Perspective

People experiencing bipolar psychosis often report:

- Feeling they can access hidden dimensions of reality

- Communication with entities others cannot perceive

- Out-of-body experiences or unusual physical sensations

- Seeing significant patterns and connections (sometimes called "apophenia")

- Blurred boundaries between self and environment

From a clinical perspective, these experiences represent a departure from consensus reality. However, they are undeniably real to the person experiencing them.

## Communication with the Divine/Spirits

### Shamanic Perspective

Central to shamanism is direct communication with spirits, ancestors, gods, or other non-physical entities. This includes:

- Receiving guidance and healing information

- Being taught songs, rituals, or practices by spirits

- Acting as a mediator between the community and the spirit world

- Using divination to access information not available through ordinary means

These communications are considered valuable sources of wisdom that benefit both the shaman and the community.

### Bipolar/Psychosis Perspective

During manic or psychotic states, individuals often report similar communications:

- Receiving messages from God or other divine/cosmic forces

- Special missions or purposes revealed through voices or visions

- Channeling information or creative content that feels externally sourced

- Heightened intuition or psychic abilities

When these experiences occur in the context of bipolar disorder, they're typically viewed as symptoms rather than genuine spiritual connections, regardless of their content or impact.

## Social Role and Integration

### Shamanic Perspective

In traditional societies, the shaman occupies a respected, though often separate, position:

- Recognized as having access to important knowledge

- Serving the community through healing, divination, and mediation with spirits

- Given support and context for unusual experiences

- Provided cultural frameworks that give meaning to visions and voices

- Taught techniques to control and direct their altered states

The community benefits from the shaman's unique perception while providing structure and purpose.

### Bipolar/Psychosis Perspective

In modern Western society, those with bipolar disorder or psychosis typically experience:

- Stigmatization rather than elevation of social status

- Lack of cultural context for understanding their experiences

- Focus on eliminating rather than channeling altered states

- Limited opportunities to use their insights to help others

- Isolation and often alienation from community

The potential wisdom or insights from these states is rarely recognized or valued at a societal level.

## Mastery and Control

### Shamanic Perspective

A key difference between shamans and those considered mentally ill is the element of control:

- Shamans learn to enter and exit altered states intentionally

- They develop techniques to navigate non-ordinary reality

- They maintain awareness of both ordinary and non-ordinary realities

- Training and initiation provide structure for managing intense experiences

This mastery is developed through apprenticeship with elder shamans and disciplined practice.

### Bipolar/Psychosis Perspective

Those with bipolar disorder often experience:

- Unpredictable shifts between states

- Difficulty controlling the onset, duration, or intensity of episodes

- Overwhelming experiences that may impair functioning

- Limited guidance on how to navigate or make sense of altered states

Modern treatment focuses primarily on preventing or minimizing these states rather than developing mastery of them.

## Healing Approaches

### Shamanic Perspective

Traditional healing for shamanic crisis involves:

- Recognition of the spiritual nature of the experience

- Mentorship from experienced shamans

- Rituals to structure and give meaning to the experience

- Teaching techniques to navigate non-ordinary states

- Community support and validation

- Integration of the experience into a coherent narrative

- Finding purpose in the suffering

The goal is not to eliminate the unusual perceptions but to develop a beneficial relationship with them.

### Bipolar/Psychosis Perspective

Contemporary medical approaches typically include:

- Medication to reduce or eliminate symptoms

- Therapy focused on distinguishing "real" from "not real"

- Emphasis on returning to conventional functioning

- Managing stress and triggers

- Limited focus on meaning-making or spiritual integration

- Often minimal community involvement in the healing process

The goal is primarily symptom reduction and stability rather than finding value in the altered states.

## Finding Middle Ground: Integrative Approaches

Some mental health professionals are beginning to recognize the potential value in more integrative approaches that:

- Respect the subjective reality and potential meaning of psychotic experiences

- Incorporate elements of traditional healing practices where appropriate

- Focus on helping individuals develop more control over their experiences

- Support meaning-making and narrative integration

- Recognize spiritual dimensions without dismissing medical needs

- Create community and reduce isolation

- Honor the insights that can emerge from non-ordinary states

These approaches don't reject medical treatment but complement it with a broader understanding of consciousness and human experience.

## Personal Navigation: Tools for the Journey

For those experiencing states that bridge the shamanic and the psychotic, several practices may help navigate these waters:

1. **Divination practices** (like tarot, I Ching, or bibliomancy) can provide structure for channeling insights that might otherwise feel overwhelming

2. **Creative expression** through art, music, writing, or movement can externalize and give form to internal experiences

3. **Body-based practices** like yoga or qi gong can help ground intense energy and create stability

4. **Nature connection** can provide both solace and context for unusual perceptions

5. **Peer support** from others with similar experiences can reduce isolation and provide validation

6. **Spiritual frameworks** that accommodate non-ordinary experiences can help with integration

7. **Judicious use of medication** as a tool for gaining stability when needed

8. **Meditation practices** that develop the capacity to observe thoughts without attachment

## Conclusion: Honoring Multiple Perspectives

The similarities between shamanic experiences and bipolar psychosis suggest that these states exist on a spectrum of human consciousness rather than being entirely separate phenomena. By holding both medical and spiritual perspectives simultaneously, we can develop more nuanced and compassionate approaches to these profound experiences.

Whether one uses the language of spirits or neurotransmitters, these experiences represent important dimensions of human consciousness that deserve to be approached with both critical thinking and open-minded wonder. Perhaps the wisdom of traditional shamanic cultures and the precision of modern psychiatry can together create a more complete understanding of these extraordinary states of mind.

For those navigating these experiences personally, finding balance often means working with multiple modalities—honoring the spiritual significance of their perceptions while also tending to their mental health and wellbeing in practical ways. In this integration lies the possibility of transforming potentially destructive crises into opportunities for profound growth and healing.