Detachment: gateway to the world of spirituality.
Mystical states are common cross-culturally. Here we examine the prevalence and general characteristics of these states. We then proceed to critically examine the theories purporting to explain these states: psychoanalytic, cognitive and neurobiological, all of which attempt to explain the breakdown of the boundaries between the self and external world. We conclude by exploring the implications of mystical states for cultural psychiatry.
Bartocci
Goffredo
G
World Psychiatric Association, Transcultural Psychiatry Section. tpsection@quipo.it
Dein
Simon
S
D001290:Attitude; D003469:Culture; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D009228:Mysticism; D011573:Psychoanalytic Interpretation; D011574:Psychoanalytic Theory; D029181:Spirituality