The article highlights how the different psychopathological states can be colored by the qualities and themes of the seven energy types.
By Soren Hauge
When we can illuminate human psychology and behavior through the lens of energy types, it is clear that it also opens a window for understanding particularly pronounced imbalances, which can turn into mental illnesses or specific personality disorders. We will therefore briefly touch on some of the more pronounced tendencies, which have a fairly clear connection to the energy types. It is important to emphasize that the tendencies mentioned below cannot simply be used to understand a person’s conscious composition and energy type dominance. Reality is often complex with many simultaneous factors at play. An effort is only made here to show a certain degree of interaction between mental illnesses and imbalances, and then the respective energy types, which each have their own special psychology.
Energy psychology and mental illnesses
Dynamic energy type and diseases
When it comes to the dynamic, forceful energy type, we find imbalances with manic tendencies , for example in the form of excessive excitement and activity and a pronounced exaggerated sense of self. It is also sometimes called megalomania or grandiosity, delusions of wildly exaggerated abilities and importance. It is also here that we encounter various forms of psychopathic leaders , driven by a desire for power and control over other people. Psychopathy is seen as a serious personality disorder with narcissistic traits – that is, a strongly exaggerated self-interest. In general, psychopathy is also an imbalance for the mental energy type.
Mental imbalances and mental disorders have close connections to the spectrum of psychologies that the energy types unfold.
Sensitive energy type and diseases
If we then move into the sensitive world of the sensitive, we encounter imbalances in the form of various forms of depression with the experience of hopelessness, despair and insurmountability. A markedly low sense of self-esteem can manifest itself as social phobia or fear of being around other people, or what is called dependency , i.e. a condition characterized by lack of independence and helplessness. It is also in the world of the sensitive that various forms of schizophrenia occur , where there are notions of being inflicted or having thoughts stolen, an experience of hearing voices or having one’s behavior dictated from outside, pronounced suffering as a result of extreme hypersensitivity and lack of centering. Also included are notions of being a messiah or savior, as are neurotic imbalances characterized by anxiety and worry.
Mental energy type and diseases
In the mental universe, a pronounced mental illness – and personality disorder – is what we know as psychopathy, which is characterized by highly manipulative and antisocial behavior. In this type of psychopathy, it is often characterized by hyperactivity, especially by a profound indifference to the feelings of others, a lack of respect for social rules, and a state in which one is unable to feel guilt and comes up with excuses for one’s own irresponsible behavior. Another feature can be a more or less pronounced paranoid imagination, which stems from this type’s tendency to manipulate one’s surroundings to such an extent that one believes everyone else is doing the same. This can give a feeling of being the victim of conspiracies, that others are deceiving one and are hostile. In reality, it is the spider that gets caught in its own web.
Creative energy type and diseases
In the world of the creative, we encounter manic-depressive imbalances with violent fluctuations between ups and downs, which maintain a deep imbalance. The diagnosis borderline is also very apt and is characterized by unstable, emotional fluctuations, impulsive behavior, violent emotional outbursts, intense and unstable relationships with other people, an alternation between over- and undervaluation of oneself, an overly pronounced tendency to give up easily, often also a marked black-and-white perception of things, and a generally unpredictable behavior, all signals that emphasize the instability and fluctuation that are among the central weaknesses of the creative.
“Excessive sorrow laughs. Excessive joy weeps.” ~ William Blake
Narcissistic personality disorder, characterized by a widespread tendency toward self-absorption and feelings of emptiness, is also a classic expression of this type.
Analytical energy type and diseases
The analyst also has his own imbalances, of which autism and Asperger’s syndrome are examples. Autism is characterized by an inability to socialize and interact with others, combined with an intense preoccupation with limited areas of interest, in which the person acquires often astonishing knowledge and ability. The autistic person also has characteristic ritualistic, or routine-based, behavior that is often repeated. The milder variant of autism is sometimes called Asperger’s syndrome, where there is a lesser degree of antisocial behavior.
Dedicated energy type and diseases
The dedicated person is driven by high ideals, and it is not always possible to connect everyday life with romantic ideas. Mental problems in the form of anorexia and bulimia are consequences of completely unrealistic self-images and the resulting self-degradation and punishment. Anorexia or refusal to eat is related to bulimia, where excessive eating is followed by vomiting and possible bodily harm. Both imbalances can cause manic-depressive states. Paranoia , or paranoid psychosis, as it is also called, is a state of persecution madness, which is also associated with the dedicated energy type, and which we have seen with the mental. Here the person may imagine that he or she is suffering from an invisible illness, or become extremely focused on a single idea that assumes violent proportions. Paranoia can lead to schizophrenia or manic-depressive illness, which are probably especially the ailments of the sensitive and creative.
Practical energy type and diseases
For the practitioner, who is so preoccupied with order and systematicity, the so-called OCD disorder (obsessive-compulsive disorder), previously called obsessive-compulsive neurosis, is a prominent example. Here, the disorder is expressed through recurring ideas, e.g. challenging words or sentences, and/or in the form of compulsive acts, self-imposed rules for behavior in the form of actions that must be repeated over and over again and that do not follow normal reason, e.g. ritual ablutions, objects that must be touched or special ways of moving that must be performed a certain number of times. One could say that the practitioner’s sense of order, rules and systematicity has gone completely overboard here and produces a fixedness that is life-impairing.
Reality often contains combinations and complex mixtures that are not touched upon here, and the above characteristics only show relationships between the psychology of energy types and particularly pronounced imbalances. It is not the claim here that one can draw simple conclusions about energy type dominance through mental illnesses or personality disorders. Nevertheless, the review serves to create awareness of connections that deserve future exploration and can contribute to greater psychological insight and treatment.
How to move forward with energy psychology
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Also read the article Psychosynthesis an Integral Psychology and the biography of Roberto Assagioli
Read the introductory article about energy psychology
Read the introductory article about integral meditation
