I've studies psychology myself AND been trough therapy (a lot). I'm so happy to read the fourth one, as I couldn't agree more. These are signs that need attention, reflection, not something to cure or label as wrong. I believe that all that is living is searching for balance, that's our natural state of being; which means to me that there is no judgement, no good or bad, just a balance that we are trying to seek. And allowing ourselves and others to see how we can get back to our balanced, authentic selves.
One problem with blindly trusting the soul’s intuition for most people is they are unable to discern which parts of that are themselves, and which parts are implanted by scrolling and social media.
Jung talks about how refusing to accept the challenges and tasks in your life leads to neuroses. With the accessibility into the lives of others through instagram and other platforms, it is easy to assume those challenges mentally, and to internally lead a certain life that doesn’t match the external. In my opinion, this is causing mass psycho spiritual suffering, especially among young people.
In order to trust the soul, to trust intuition, you must spend a lot of time getting to know your own mental landscape, or else risk being led astray by unexamined messages.
This was a great article, but I’m not sure I wholly agree with the idea that taking the “fourth approach” means disregarding the first three. I do believe that the first three approaches have decent underpinnings that are actually healthy; the toxicity which surrounds them comes as a result of people taking things to the extreme. In my view, the fourth approach means simply taking a balanced approach of the first three core ideas.
The first approach encourages one to take ultimate responsibility for one’s life and internal state, rather than blame other people, circumstances, or “the universe” for things being the way they are. This can be very empowering, liberating even. I like to use the term “soul sovereignty” to describe this. It reinforces the idea that we are our own sovereign beings with the ability to influence our outcomes according to our desires. Unfortunately, figures like Andrew Tate aren’t helpful here; they take this idea to a toxic extreme, ironically causing people to throw away their soul sovereignty. Whenever intrusive thoughts, emotional or psychological distress creeps up, I think it’s best to approach that with compassion rather than just “turn it off.”
The second approach is quite tricky. Sometimes, things really do go medically wrong. I do think it’s overly harsh and unhelpful to say some something like “I’m broken.” However, some conditions really do require medical intervention. Getting evaluated and diagnosed allows you to not only understand the workings of your own mind on a deeper level, but allows you to approach self-care with a greater sense of clarity. I think it’s best to acknowledge that and allow yourself to seek/receive the medical support that comes with certain diagnoses. There’s no shame in doing this. In fact, I’d argue that it’s one way to take ultimate responsibility of your life and internal state.
With the third approach, you see a sense of community and compassion; compassion for both yourself and others. Being able to connect with other people over common struggles offers such a unique level of comfort and clarity. This really is necessary; we are human after all. I do find that it’s been helpful to the first two core ideas; sharing experiences, ideas, resources, and guidance to help with the first and second approaches. However, once people throw away their aforementioned soul sovereignty via a fixed mindset that it becomes toxic.
So the fourth approach, in my view, involves taking the best core ideas from the first three and balancing them in a healthy and constructive manner. These are just my own thoughts, shaped by my own experiences though. I have Autism and ADHD together, one hell of a dynamic duo. I’ve been through the worst parts of the first three approaches as well, but found that a balanced approach actually works quite well. I’ve managed to use my soul sovereignty to get each diagnosed, get support via therapy and medication, seek and connect with others who have similar experiences, and generally improve my life all around.
This piece reminds me how most of the internet is twisted around sensationalist and overly simplistic rhetoric treating it like it's an important question or topic but actually it's the root of those discourses that have real revelations and this post is one of those rare pockets of truth. Great work!
I've studies psychology myself AND been trough therapy (a lot). I'm so happy to read the fourth one, as I couldn't agree more. These are signs that need attention, reflection, not something to cure or label as wrong. I believe that all that is living is searching for balance, that's our natural state of being; which means to me that there is no judgement, no good or bad, just a balance that we are trying to seek. And allowing ourselves and others to see how we can get back to our balanced, authentic selves.
One problem with blindly trusting the soul’s intuition for most people is they are unable to discern which parts of that are themselves, and which parts are implanted by scrolling and social media.
Jung talks about how refusing to accept the challenges and tasks in your life leads to neuroses. With the accessibility into the lives of others through instagram and other platforms, it is easy to assume those challenges mentally, and to internally lead a certain life that doesn’t match the external. In my opinion, this is causing mass psycho spiritual suffering, especially among young people.
In order to trust the soul, to trust intuition, you must spend a lot of time getting to know your own mental landscape, or else risk being led astray by unexamined messages.
This was a great article, but I’m not sure I wholly agree with the idea that taking the “fourth approach” means disregarding the first three. I do believe that the first three approaches have decent underpinnings that are actually healthy; the toxicity which surrounds them comes as a result of people taking things to the extreme. In my view, the fourth approach means simply taking a balanced approach of the first three core ideas.
The first approach encourages one to take ultimate responsibility for one’s life and internal state, rather than blame other people, circumstances, or “the universe” for things being the way they are. This can be very empowering, liberating even. I like to use the term “soul sovereignty” to describe this. It reinforces the idea that we are our own sovereign beings with the ability to influence our outcomes according to our desires. Unfortunately, figures like Andrew Tate aren’t helpful here; they take this idea to a toxic extreme, ironically causing people to throw away their soul sovereignty. Whenever intrusive thoughts, emotional or psychological distress creeps up, I think it’s best to approach that with compassion rather than just “turn it off.”
The second approach is quite tricky. Sometimes, things really do go medically wrong. I do think it’s overly harsh and unhelpful to say some something like “I’m broken.” However, some conditions really do require medical intervention. Getting evaluated and diagnosed allows you to not only understand the workings of your own mind on a deeper level, but allows you to approach self-care with a greater sense of clarity. I think it’s best to acknowledge that and allow yourself to seek/receive the medical support that comes with certain diagnoses. There’s no shame in doing this. In fact, I’d argue that it’s one way to take ultimate responsibility of your life and internal state.
With the third approach, you see a sense of community and compassion; compassion for both yourself and others. Being able to connect with other people over common struggles offers such a unique level of comfort and clarity. This really is necessary; we are human after all. I do find that it’s been helpful to the first two core ideas; sharing experiences, ideas, resources, and guidance to help with the first and second approaches. However, once people throw away their aforementioned soul sovereignty via a fixed mindset that it becomes toxic.
So the fourth approach, in my view, involves taking the best core ideas from the first three and balancing them in a healthy and constructive manner. These are just my own thoughts, shaped by my own experiences though. I have Autism and ADHD together, one hell of a dynamic duo. I’ve been through the worst parts of the first three approaches as well, but found that a balanced approach actually works quite well. I’ve managed to use my soul sovereignty to get each diagnosed, get support via therapy and medication, seek and connect with others who have similar experiences, and generally improve my life all around.
Thankyou
This was so informative and empathetic. I have myself touched upon the idea of mental health issues often becoming identities for people in my blog, That's Novel https://open.substack.com/pub/pervertedprophet/p/thats-novel?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=2ivlhk
This piece reminds me how most of the internet is twisted around sensationalist and overly simplistic rhetoric treating it like it's an important question or topic but actually it's the root of those discourses that have real revelations and this post is one of those rare pockets of truth. Great work!
I’ve been loyal. To the map. To the mask… https://www.thehiddenclinic.com/p/how-the-world-made-me-split-and-why
Insightful as always. Let's never forget that suffering is a mean for personal development and evolution, if we embrace it.