WOUNDED​ HEALER
A SHAMANIC PATH TO FREEDOM
The state commonly labeled as “manic-depression” is described here not as a mental illness, but as a profound psychological process—one Jung saw as needing completion in order to reset the psyche.
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In this view, extreme mood states represent a deep encounter with the unconscious rather than a chronic disease to be suppressed.
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Contemporary psychiatry is portrayed as interrupting this inner process by chemically numbing the psyche, which is said to cause serious harm to the individual.
• The text argues that, because the mental health system is heavily financed by pharmaceutical companies, profit tends to take precedence over genuine healing.
Authors such as John Perry, R.D. Laing, Thomas Szasz, Roberto Assagioli, and Carl Jung are invoked to support the idea that psychotic or manic breaks can be terrifying but meaningful encounters with the unconscious, occurring without a strong enough ego to contain the experience.
From this standpoint, such crises are not viewed as “illnesses” but as destabilizing, potentially transformative psychological events
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Responsibility is ultimately placed on each person to investigate, question, and choose a path of healing rather than automatically accepting drug-centered care
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Insider's view of Shamanic initiation
Insider's view of Shamanic initiation
Your way forward will often be met with hostility, doubt, and misunderstanding.
• Those who have never entered this altered state of consciousness—including many mental health professionals and clergy—typically have no inner reference point from which to truly help
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The initial phase of this experience generally requires about six weeks for the individual to begin reorienting to what is happening.
Periods of seclusion, along with supportive changes in diet and lifestyle, are presented as essential elements of the healing process
In earlier decades, dedicated centers such as Diabasis House, Soteria House, The Agnews Project, Burch House, and I‑Ward were created to support this process and consistently showed outcomes that validated a non‑medication approach
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These programs were eventually closed due to lack of funding, while the conventional medical model, worth billions of dollars, was expanded because it generated profit rather than simple healing.
Confronting a billion‑dollar system is extremely difficult and often futile.
A more empowering choice is to do your own research and consciously design a personal system of healing that aligns with your experience and values.
A INITIATION PROCESS
Mistaken for Mental Illness
Alternative Paths
Shamanic Practices of the Past
There seems to be a direct connection between the ancient shamanic practices and the process of individuals under going what is called Bi-polar disorder. The similarities between the 'calling' of a shaman of the past aligns perfectly with the experiences of the modern day individual labeled Bi-polar.
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RELIGION
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Many past religious experiences that have been written about have direct parallels to the modern day diagnosed psychotic experience. Whether Jesus or Mohammed, their experiences if happened in todays society would be labeled as mental illness.
Anyone working with bi-polar individuals are well aware of the individuals pre-occupation with religious concepts and their alignment with a religious figure.
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INDIVIDUALIZATION
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Carl Jung work on the process of individualization also compares to the psychological upheaval experienced in the individual diagnosed as bi-polar. There is a breakdown of the Ego structure which had been holding the unconscious material in check. The person now becomes overwhelmed by the unchecked raw power unconscious content.
Modern Day Ignorance
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The modern day psychologists are either ignorant or just to afraid to identify the markers. For those pioneers that came before them, Jung, Perry, Szasz, and Laing, who actually understood the process were shunned by their peers and community for going against the status quo.