Buddhism, philosophy and disorders

Last updated on: March 2, 2009 at 12:56 am by Justin Whitaker

Buddhism, philosophy and disorders 2009-03-02T00:56:00-07:00 Justin Whitaker

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Ohh, sometimes I so wish I was still living in England… Perhaps one day I’ll go back as I finish up my doctorate or for post-doc work. Likely not too soon, as all is well here and even with the economy going down, work for me is secure and plentiful.

In any case, this jumped out at me today:

VICES AND DISORDERS
LANCASTER UNIVERSITY FRIDAY 13TH MARCH
FUNDED BY THE ROYAL INSTITUTE OF PHILOSOPHY AND THE SOCIETY FOR APPLIED PHILOSOPHY

The workshop is free and open to all, but places are limited.
Please email Rachel Cooper ([email protected]) to reserve a place. Please note I will be away from the 7th – 28th Feb, so if you email during this period you may not get a reply until I get back.

10-10.30 Harry Lesser (Manchester) Suppose vice was an illness, illness a vice: what can we learn from Butler’s Erewhon?

10.30-11.30 Havi Carel (UWE) The phenomenology of eating disorders

11.45-12.45 Chris Megone (Leeds) Vices and disorders – a neo-Aristotelian view.

2-3 Tim Chappell (Open) Who can we blame?

3-4 Christian Perring (Dowling College, USA) The moral responsibility of people with mental illnesses for their actions

4.15-5 Edward Harcourt (Oxford) Madness, badness and immaturity in psychoanalysis

All of them fall well into my blended areas of interest in Buddhist ethics, philosophy, and psychology. Those who read my blog often know I’ve long been interested in issues around depression and meditation and recently (last summer/fall) become very interested particularly in personality disorders. That work is kind of on a back burner as I return to thesis reading/writing, but I fully plan to return to it at some point.

If you’ve ever had a mental illness (I had clinical depression in my late teens) or been close to someone who has (I was close to someone who likely has/is undiagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder), each of these topics should pique some interest.

The first and third, dealing with the subject of vices and disorders, would be of great interest to those who want to see philosophers, including the Buddhist variety, taking mental illness more seriously. Most of what I have seen has constituted shoulder-shrugging and ignoring at best, and devaluation of both the subject matter and the individuals at the worst. I think Foucault’s work, which is despised among many mainstream philosophers, came the closest in his examination of the history of madness.

But of even greater interest to me are the two on “Who can we blame?” and moral responsibility… As I experienced in myself years ago, as a mental illness worsens, the ability to be moral in some sense seems to weaken. Other-regarding capacities diminish. The world becomes closed. The “I” becomes paramount and paralysing.

I’m not sure how others experience me in this time, but as selfish and immature would probably hit the mark. When my friend’s episodes would arise, they often manifested in placing completely unreasonable demands on me and reacting with extraordinary anger when I failed to meet her requirements. She also manifested sudden overwhelming insecurities, often also accompanied by anger. In the midst of her emotional breakdowns I generally put it upon myself to ‘fix’ the situation, either appeasing her if I could or trying to sooth her. That is, I made the responsibility in the situation mine – which now I believe was fair to neither her nor myself. It merely served to enable further breakdowns.

Another issue of blame I have come across revolves around genetics and early childhood situations. Both my paternal grandfather and father had clinical depression in their lives, so it was not a big surprise when I had it too. If you’ve seen the movie Monster, you cannot help sympathising with this woman who was raped as a child and emotionally abused by her father. Now if she was both genetically predisposed, perhaps having a father with a personality disorder, and had childhood trauma, it makes it increasingly difficult to say to what extent she is morally responsible for her actions.

The final paper title, “Madness, badness and immaturity in psychoanalysis” raises a related issue. My friend, and I have read this of many people with Borderline PD, would at times snap into a child-like persona. Perhaps it was reverting to a time before her own trauma… Perhaps it was simply a coping mechanism, a way out of a reality that her adult self couldn’t handle. Sometimes these childlike states were playful or pouty, sometimes violent tantrums.

That reminds me of something my then-girlfriend said to me when I was in the midst of my depression. She was a bit younger than me and once said, somewhat bitterly, “I might be younger than you, but your the one that needs to grow up.” She was right of course,in the sense that I was probably acting very immaturely. But, again, in the midst of mental illness it is incredibly difficult to get outside of one’s own shell. I probably thought at the time that she was just being mean.

In Buddhist psychology it may be argued that there is no ‘person’ to blame for immoral actions. But that takes things too far, I believe. Sure**, philosophically there is no Self (fixed and unchanging), but there is still that being, the carrier of karma or actions, that continues throughout a lifetime and beyond**. And again, in the midst of mental illness, that unfixed and unchanging self begins to look incredibly solid and thoughts that “this will never change” arise again and again.

In this world of appearances, persons arise. Persons are the locus for pleasure and pain, joys and sufferings. In the bodhisattva quest to alleviate all suffering, it hardly seems helpful to leap to the metaphysical truth of “there is no person” or “all is impermanent.” True they may be, but like blaming gravity for the recent plane crashes, it is a case of a category mistake.

The Buddha taught a very wide variety of methods for the alleviation of suffering, most prominently being meditation practice. But there is a great deal more in the Buddhist teachings that contemporary Buddhists can use to deal with issues of mental illness. Teachings on community, reciprocal duties, and more can be applied to the lives of both the mentally ill and those who are close to them. Also, it seems properly Buddhist to admit that there are countless tools available today that go beyond anything the Buddha might have taught; tools such as brain imaging, antidepressants (herbal and otherwise), and so on. The famous Kalama Sutta tells us to use efficacy as the greatest criterion for our activities – do they lead away from greed, hatred, and delusion? Do them. Do they lead to greater greed, hatred, and delusion? Stop them.

This doesn’t get us anywhere near what I might call an ‘answer’ or even a clear action plan for Buddhism and disorders or mental illness, but perhaps the sketch of thoughts will spark something further down the line.

I should note my gratitude to James Ure, an excellent Buddhist blogger who has commented at times about meditation, Buddhism, and dealing with Schizoaffective Disorder. Also see his great post on Buddhism and mental illness.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

February 28, 2009

Gregory Schopen Interviewed

Next Post

March 4, 2009 Gratitude Journal

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Academia Activism American Buddhism Art Book review Buddhism Buddhism Today Buddhist Ethics Burma/Myanmar China Christianity Commodification Environment Gender Happiness Health Humor India Interfaith Islam Japanese Buddhism Kant Media / News Meditation mindfulness Photography Poetry Politics quicktakes Running Teaching Technology Thailand Theism/Atheism Theravada Tibet Tibetan Buddhism Travels Uncategorized Unitarian Universalism video Western Philosophy Zen

Select a Month June 2021 January 2021 November 2020 August 2020 July 2020 March 2020 January 2020 October 2019 August 2019 June 2019 May 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 November 2004 September 2004 August 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz