Some years ago we had a member who was Schizophrenic. He wasn't with us long but I'll never forget his story. He had a place he went which was idyllic and, to him, the best possible world. It was a island, I believe, and he enjoyed ‘being’ there. I learned, first hand, why he wouldn’t take his medication because he would not be prohibited from visiting his ‘place’.

The curious thing, and the reason he joined us briefly, was the crushing ‘reality’ that his ‘place’ was disintegrating over the years. What was bright and beautiful was turning gray and black much like Spring giving over to Winter. It was this that caused extreme distress to him.

I don’t know what to think of this from a psychological / psychiatric point of view, but in a very real way I could feel his pain and suffering. But of course I couldn’t help but make connections to his schizo-world and the experiences we have in our adventures in consciousness (LD, AP, OBE). One striking difference, however, is we ‘travelers’ seldom, if ever, have the blessing of returning time and again to a ‘place’ we enjoyed and would like to experience again.

I just read an article http://www.aeonmagazine.com/altered-...oid-delusions/ about schizophrenia that put these thoughts in motion. I bet I could put myself in a mindset that, based on a questionnaire, would fool most any mental health pro into thinking I am schizophrenic. Don’t imagine that would be hard at all. The big and obvious difference is I have a line between my real world self and my imaginative ‘other world’ self. That may be all that prevents the co-mingling of the worlds so as I, for the Most Part, appear to be sane.

The link was interesting to me, you might enjoy it too.