What is spiritual crisis?

A spiritual crisis may involve:

•  profound psychological transformation
•  one's entire being
•  non-ordinary states of consciousness
•  intense emotions, visions, other sensory changes
•  unusual thoughts
•  various physical manifestations

Episodes often revolve around spiritual themes and may include:

•  sequences of psychological death and rebirth
•  feelings of oneness with the universe or nature
•  encounters with various mythological beings

A butterfly is often seen as symbolic of the inner transformation that spiritual crisis may involve. Artwork by Yuri Leitch

What might someone going through spiritual crisis experience?

Stanislav Grof identifies the following as being typical of someone going through spiritual crisis. A person may:

•  be bombarded with inner experiences
•  have old beliefs and ways of being challenged
•  find it difficult to cope with the demands of everyday life
•  have difficulty distinguishing the inner visionary world from the external world of daily reality
•  experience physical sensations of forceful energies through the body
•  feel a strong urge to communicate their experiences
•  sound out of touch with reality, disjointed or messianic

What are the different types of spiritual crisis?

Each individual's experience is unique. Whilst it is possible to identify common themes and thus to categorise different kinds of spiritual crisis, characteristics of several of these may be present in any one experience. Grof identifies the following types:

•  The shamanic crisis
•  The awakening of kundalini
•  Peak experiences
•  Psychological renewal through return to the centre
•  The crisis of psychic opening à Past-life experiences
•  Communications with spirit guides and 'channeling'
•  Near-death experiences
•  Experiences of close encounters with UFO's
•  Possession states

See Spiritual Emergency: When Personal Transformation Becomes a Crisis, edited by Stanislav & Christina Grof, Penguin Putnam 1989.

What causes spiritual crisis?

The phenomenon of spiritual crisis appears to be on the increase. There are possibly two main reasons for this. Some people think that there is a shift in consciousness taking place globally. It is possible that more and more people may experience spiritual crisis as a result of this.

The other reason is that many in the West today are practising spiritual techniques which in the past were taught only by highly experienced spiritual teachers in safe and supportive environments such as monasteries. This has been described by some as a DIY approach to spirituality or a 'pick and mix' approach.

There are many possible different triggers for spiritual crisis. The following are some of the more common ones: ·

• the intense use of spiritual practices such as, for example, prayer or meditation
• yoga, tai chi, and other similar techniques, particularly if practiced intensely
• extreme stress, physical or emotional shock or trauma
• childbirth or intense lovemaking

Spiritual crisis can, however, also happen seemingly at random with no obvious trigger.

Spiritual Crisis from a mental health perspective

A growing number of mental health professionals are starting to recognise the territory of spiritual crisis.

In the diagnostic manual DSM-IV there is a category of 'Religious or Spiritual Problem'. This diagnostic manual is used by mental health professionals. It is used more widely in the USA than in the UK. In the DSM-IV spiritual problems are defined as distressing experiences that involve a person's relationship with a transcendent being or force but are not necessarily related to an organised church or religious institution.

"Soul as Battleground" by Jennifer Elam