Mental Disorders & Spiritual Healing: Teachings from the Early Christian East

Publication Data: Hillsdale, NY: Sophia Perennis, 2005
Format: softcover
Number of Pages: iv + 172
Dimensions (l × w × h): 22.9 cm × 15.3 cm × 1.1 cm
ISBN: 1‒59731‒045‒X

   
Jean-Claude Larchet
Translated by Rama P. Coomaraswamy
G. John Champoux

“Regardless of historical period or the nature of society involved. mental illness has always been with us. And even within any given society one often finds contradictory attitudes taken towards the insane. [...]In view of the many problems which current psychiatry faces, the difficulties in understanding, the proper treatment of mental illness, and the manner in which society responds to those afflicted, we shall try to offer some insight into the manner in which early Christians viewed, understood, and treated insanity, and to show the benefits, however modest, that the thought and experience of the early Christians can provide.”
—“Introduction”

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
1 ANTHROPOLGICAL BACKGROUND: THE HUMAN COMPOSITE
   Body and Soul
   Spirit, Soul and Body
2 INSANITY DUE TO SOMATIC PROBLEMS
3 INSANITY OF DEMONIC ORIGIN
   Forms and Causes
   Christian Attitudes
   Treatment
4 INSANITY OF SPIRITUAL ORIGIN
   Mental and Spiritual Illness
      First Cause—The Frustration of Desires
      Second Cause—Anger
      Unmotivated Sadness
      Demonic Activity
   The Nosology of Acedia
   Treating Sadness
   Treating Acedia
5 A MOST SINGULAR KIND OF FOLLY—THE FOOL FOR CHRIST
   The fool for Christ, the Illiterate, the Simple, and the Innocent
   A Simulated Folly
   Scriptural Foundations
   First Motive: Humility
   Second Motive: Detachment From This World
      Solitude
      The Status of Stranger
      Poverty
   Third Motive: Charity
   Spiritual Presuppositions of Foolishness for Christ
      A Call from God or a Personal Vocation Approved by God
      An Already Highly Accomplished Spiritual Life
   Conclusion
BIBLIOGRAPHY
   Patristic Sources
   Lives
   Studies