By 
The difficulties that arise for the many who carry within themselves serious mental or emotional disorders are innumerable and occur on many levels of experience. This is true for those who are severely depressed, withdrawn, alienated, or involved with an inner reality that is visible to them only and that separates them from the world around them. For those challenged in this way, extreme separation from life causes much pain and suffering, as it does for family and friends who must find ways to bridge the gap to the one who has separated, who often lives. alone, despite the fact. that there may be people around.
Until now, we have seen mental and emotional disorders as an extreme disability for those who experience them, an economic burden for a society that supports those who cannot care for themselves, and a source of concern for families trying to remain in a loving relationship even while experiencing difficulties. In fact, today we know a lot about the impact of mental illness on oneself and on others. But what has not been known until now is the relationship of the group of conditions that we call “mental illness” with the realm of the soul. Paradoxical as it may seem to the human heart and mind, this relationship involves a choice which the soul has made manifest in this way – a choice to create a deeply ingrained emotional or mental condition for which a great cost in life is paid. This choice, although invisible, is very real. Perceiving it can help us penetrate the mysterious world of the mentally ill. It can also help us search for the hidden value and purpose of conditions that appear to the naked eye to be anything but positive in nature or effects.
The choice of a disease of any kind that forms the course of a life or a significant part of it is always the choice of the individual soul, before incarnating in physical life. The soul looks at the various learning opportunities that different circumstances might provide and chooses what will be most productive in terms of growth in a particular area. In relation to severe emotional or mental difficulties, especially those in which separation from reality is involved, the soul makes the decision to learn from the very experience of separation, alienation and distortion that is the disability itself: to learn in the context of being. deeply wounded, deeply immersed in one’s own inner reality and yet also, simultaneously, separated from oneself. Because separation from external reality, for most, is accompanied by an equally powerful separation from one’s true self. As a result, a person may experience a lack of a central core or clear sense of “I” that invisibly limits the entire experience of life. This situation, which includes withdrawal patterns and difficulties both mentally and emotionally, manifests itself differently for different individuals. However, within the variation there is a common thread. It is this:
At the core of choosing to incarnate in a way that causes a severe and painful separation from reality and self is soul-level motivation. to find that same center of oneself, and to reestablish a connection with the rest of the world that has previously been injured or broken.
To put it another way, what we witness as the fundamental condition of deficiency in those suffering from mental disorders, it is actually promoting healing as the soul seeks to find what is missing and unite what has fallen apart. Over time, the urge to locate what has been lost or distorted, both on the outside and on the inside, becomes the path to healing.
Today, most of us do not believe that limiting symptoms or conditions are a path to healing because there is so much suffering and limitations involved. And yet, with regard to the mentally ill, the altered sense of self and the search for a central self is indeed that path. It creates a great need to find the way back to a more solid base in relation to the external world and also in relation to oneself. With this in mind, we can begin to think of mental and emotional disorders as a problem and as a response to a problem. The problem is visible; which is an answer, most of the time it is not.
At this point, we might wonder what difference it would make to have such a spiritual perspective. How would you help us? The answer is twofold. At the level of healing, a greater awareness of the choice made for severe mental and emotional conditions may lead more directly to other learning paths for which this choice has been the main focal point.
Second, at the level of everyday reality, experiences of rejection and humiliation remain common to many who are perceived by society as different. The aspect of difference that manifests itself in so many ways often creates a reactivity on the part of others that it does not allow for personal dignity. It does not recognize the inner soul. If the emotional or mental disturbance itself were perceived as a positive choice of the soul that has its own purposes in mind, much more could be seen in the way of dignity and strength when we seek to relate to the inner soul; greater hope would be possible; and the separation from the rest of life could be reduced.
As we enter a new era of unity among us, based on the greater recognition of the Divine nature of every living being, a spiritual perspective like this is a natural result. This perspective would help remove the stigma of separation that persists so persistently in those with mental or emotional disorders. In its light, we would come to see each one who has chosen this path as the individual soul that he is. We would see more of his strength, we would see his beauty and we would feel his kinship with us within the planetary family of which we are part.