Here’s a necessary passage from George P. Hansen’s 1994 opus The Trickster and the Paranormal, which is a flatly necessary book (though one that’s oddly semi-obscure, for reasons that have long eluded me):
[Anthropologist Larry] Peters recognized that the idea of creative illness, advanced by Henri Ellenberger in 1964, can be understood as a liminal process. A number of extraordinarily creative persons underwent a period of withdrawal, marginality, and sometimes even psychosis (e.g., Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Friedrich Nietzsche, Max Weber, Kurt Godel). Several biographies of these figures have lamented the periods of withdrawal and sickness. But they failed to realize that these ultimately led to growth, transformation, intellectual power and leadership. Peters also explored borderline personality disorder. He pointed out that some of the symptoms (e.g., self-mutilation, anorexia) have parallels with shamanistic crisis experiences. The word “borderline” emphasizes the issue of boundaries. He suggested that the prevalence of the disorder today is partly due to lack of effective rites of passage. Our society devalues marginality and withdrawal and stigmatizes them, even though they can be sources of rejuvenation and creativity.
‘Religious or Spiritual problem’ is in the DSM IV. I think it might have actually been taken out of the V. Psychosis FROM religious experience commonly known as spiritual emergence psychosis isn’t really taken seriously even though it is quite common. Example, I believe on your blog you had a story about the horror show that is vipassana retreats which actually have a reputation for people going insane. I put this here for your readers if they’re not familiar to search around on these topics.
American Horror Story Red Tide deals with the creative muse and insanity.