'Mental', 'psychological' and/or 'emotional' disturbances of the type we are interested in here are all 'cognitive' disturbances. Or worded otherwise, they are disturbances of ideas.
A broader diagnosis of mental or psychological disturbances can be broken down into 5 different but often connected areas of classification:
1. Physiogenic Causes: Causes pertaining to biology, physiology, and/or chemistry.
2. Psychogenic Causes: Causes pertaining to learned ideas.
3. Sociogenic Causes: Causes pertainng to social encounters.
4. Traumogenic (my word): Causes pertaining to physiogenic and/or psychogenic and/or sociogenic and/or narciogenic traumacy.
5. Narciogenic (my word): Causes pertaining to narcissistic impulse and/or traumacy.
Now there are at least three different directions we can go here that come easily to mind with this essay.
Each different direction pertains to a different 'floor' (a different section, a different blogsite) on/in Hegel's Hotel.
There is no such thing as a perfect 'classification system' where nothing overlaps. Everything always overlaps. Life is one collosal overlap of harmonious and non-harmonious, co-operative and/or competitive assortment of billions of different things and processes.
From a psychology, personality theory, psychopathology, and psychotherapy point of view, we need to approach this problem from several points of view.
We need to have an understanding of the generally more conscious, and all else being equal, more rational, problem-solving, and conflict-resolving processes in the personality. To this we, give the names: 'Central Ego Functioning', 'The Central Mediating, Executive Ego', 'DGB Cognitive Theory', and 'Supplementary DGB Apollonian-Enlightenment Theory'. Furthermore, we can talk about the different types of cognitive-psychopathologies and psychotherapies associated with this area of cognitive functioning.
Beyond this, there is what we might call the 'rest of the personality' which is extremely significant to overall functioning, tends to generally be less conscious, less rational, more deterministic, more dependent on early childhood learning, more prone to high degrees of early childhood traumacy, and more prone to severe personality dysfunctioning and psychopathology...
Associated with both the more rational and more irrational sides of the personality, there is also the genetic and biological factor, both good and bad, including sexuality and violence, and all of the other different types of physiological, chemical, and emotional mood swings...
Here is the game plan.
We will seek first to exhaust the cognitive-emotional, problem-solving, conflict-resolving, decision-making and action parameters of The Central Ego.
Then we will delve deeper into the parameters of other ego states and functions, including The Dionysian and Narcissistic Ego States and Functions, along with all of the 'distinctive-associative, projective, identification and compensatory transefrence elements' -- made up mainly, but not entirely, of childhood encounters, relationships, and memories, childhood learning, childhood traumacies, narcissistic fixations, narcissistic fantasies, the beginning and escalating evolution of obsessive-compulsive serial behavior patterns, and the like.
I think it is a fascinating ride...
But like the Romantic, Dionysian and Humanistic-Existential Periods of Western Philosophy followed the more Apollonian, rational, reasonable period of Western Philosophy...
So too, in DGBN Philosophy, we will precede the Dionysian, Narcissistic, Romantic, and Humanistic-Existential elements of the human personality with the generally more Apollonian, reasonable-rational-ethical elements, although even these elements can easily become 'distorted, exasperated, and pathologized'.
One of Plato's best ideas (obviously, in my opinion) was a simple '3-Chakra (3 Mind-Body Energy Centres)' model of the human psyche, which can be compared and contrasted with both Nietzsche's 'Apollonian-Dionysian 2 Chakra model (The Birth of Tragedy) and Freud's classic '3 Chakra Superego-Ego-Id' model...
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From the internet...Greek Medicine...
DID THE GREEKS HAVE CHAKRAS?
One of the well-known and salient features of yogic philosophy is its doctrine of the seven chakras, or spinal energy centers. The chakras are also the focus of many forms of holistic healing practiced today.
But did the ancient Greeks have any notions of the chakras or any chakra system? The answer is yes. Classical Greek ideas about the chakras are contained in the writings of Plato, and alluded to in the teachings of Pythagoras and in the Hermetic traditions of Western esotericism.
Plato and the Chakras
The clearest Greek ideas on the chakras come from Plato, who writes about them in his dialogue Timaeus. Basically, Plato considered the chakras to be subtle organs that the soul, or psyche uses to relate to the gross physical body.
According to Plato's philosophy, the soul has three basic parts, or levels of expression:
Nous or Logos - This is the highest part or level of soul expression, which Plato called the psyche, or immortal soul. Its attributes are reason, wisdom and spiritual insight. It finds expression through the Crown and Brow centers.
Thymos - This is the middle level of soul expression, or what Plato called the mortal soul. Its basic attributes are passion, fight and drive. It finds expression through the middle three chakras: the Throat, Heart and Gastric centers.
Epithymia - This is the level of desire and instinct, and is the lowest level of soul expression. It is also concerned with basic survival needs and appetites, and finds expression through the two lowest chakras: the Generative and Root centers.
Obvious parallels can be drawn between Plato's three levels of soul expression and the three Gunas of yogic philosophy, as well as the ego, id and superego of Freudian psychology. The correspondences are:
Nous, Logos - the Sattva Guna and the superego.
Thymos - the Rajas Guna and the ego.
Epithymia - the Tamas Guna and the id.
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From the internet...Greek medicine...
APOLLO
The Source of Health and Healing
Apollo, a solar deity, was also the god of archery, music and healing. Apollo personifies the active, Yang path to healing through self betterment and physical culture. The solar principle he represents manifests in the body as the Vital Force - that which the Chinese call Qi and the Hindus call Prana.
Called The Bright One, Apollo is an eternal youth, and the bringer of enlightenment and higher consciousness to all mankind. Advocating order, balance, harmony, personal discretion and conscious living, Apollo's two basic health mottos are: Know thyself. and, Nothing in excess.
Apollo's bow symbolizes the concept of tone and the need for physical conditioning. Tone is the dynamic tension between opposite yet complementary forces within the human organism. The higher the level of tone, the greater this dynamic tension is, and the greater the capacity of the organism to respond with decisiveness, strength, and vigor. When we exercise, we're toning up our muscles; we also feel more vital and alive, responsive and energetic.
Stringing Apollo's bow means bringing these powerful opposing forces into the proper relationship or alignment. Until this happens, the system is non-functional, or dysfunctional, and unable to respond properly.
Apollo's lyre symbolizes the gift of music, which is the harmony of sounds. To have health and healing, there must be a harmonious ordering of all the vital forces within the organism; all the strings must be in tune. There's a deep therapeutic relationship between music and healing.
In Greek mythology, Apollo is acknowledged as the original source of health and healing. He is the first god addressed in the Hippocratic Oath. He was also the father of Asclepius, the god of medicine.
Acknowledgements:
Cassell's Dictionary of Classical Mythology by Jenny March
Copyright 1998 by Cassell and Co. in the UK
Entry on Apollo - pg. 110
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I would argue that neither Nietzsche nor Freud really had a 'romantic' (heart) element of the human psyche like Plato did in his 3 chakra model but this we can maybe take up at a different time. In the mean time, we will go with Plato's model here, and develop the essays according to the following game-plan...
We will start first with the main elements of: 1. man's 'conscious mind-brain functioning' (central ego functioning, sensory awareness, perception, interpretation, evaluation, problem-solving, conflict-mediating, conflict-negotiating, conflict-resolving, preparation and execution of action)...
Then we will work down the human mind-body empirically, physically, emotionally, and metaphorically to the influence of man's 2.'romantic-humanistic-existential heart'...
And then finally we will focus on the psychological and philosophical influence of man's 3. 'Narcissistic-Dionysian loins and associated sensory-sexual-pleasure functions' and its influence as a chakra/energy centre on his/her existence..
That way I should be guaranteed that you will pull through this next 'rather dry cognitive' phase of my writing....to get to the more passionate, dramatic -- healthy and pathological -- stuff later...
How does that Pink Floyd song end?
'How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat'?
Ladies and gentlement,
We will first explore the more rational components of the personality -- or at least the highest potential for rationality in the personality -- before we more fully engage in exploring the 'darker, more irrational' components of the personality as described partly in Freudian language, Jungian language, Adlerian language, Gestalt language, Transactional Analysis language, Nietzschean language, and 'multi-integrative' DGBN language.
On with a greater and more detailed idealistic, and less idealistic, description of Central Ego Functioning.
-- dgbn, Dec. 14th, 2008, updated Friday morning, Dec. 19th, 2008, Monday Dec. 22nd, 2008, Tues. Dec. 23rd, 2008.
-- David Gordon Bain.
-- Democracy Goes Beyond Narcissism...
(But narcissism is good up to a point...)
(And Dionysianism is good up to a point...)
(Just not up to the point of unbridled greed, lack of reciprocity, destruction...
And self-destuction...)
(Apollo must always maintain his power...)
(And Zeus must keep every potential anarchist and usurper under control and in balance...)
Not like the Mexican Drug Cartel...
And The Wall Street Bankers...
Dialectic Gap-Bridging Negotiations Are Still In Process...
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