| Introducing the notion of spiritual emergency in the Netherlands, this study explored the first-person perception of going mad, a critical episode in some peoples' spiritual development, and direct knowing, or noesis, as a potential navigating device through it. Semi-structured interviews with 11 participants, including practitioners and non-practitioners, addressed previous beliefs, triggers, perceptions of madness, noetic quality, quest for support, and life impact. Experiential content analysis yielded key features, including extremes of fullness and emptiness, and various helpful factors, including physical activity, solitude and creative expression. Unmediated inner knowing was found to provide vital guidance despite cognitive notions of insanity, while transpersonal perspectives enabled lasting recovery and integration. Most participants avoided mental health services for fear of being pathologized. Discussion points at recent research into healthy dimensions of conventionally recognized symptoms of mental disorders, schizophrenia in particular, and calls for education in spiritual emergency to professionals and the general public. |
