Chaos-Theoretical Approach to Psychiatry, Psychology and Psychotherapy. Part 2: A New Hypothesis as to the Nature of Psychosis

Abstract: A new hypothesis about the nature of psychosis as a pathological mindbrain state of 'linear' information processing is briefly introduced. This hypothesis is proposed in the context of a complementary approach to psychiatry founded in the logical paradigm of chaos theory, which we have called Process-Oriented Psychiatry or 'POPSY', for short. To best understand the relation between chaos theory and psychiatry, psychology and psychotherapy, the semantic structure of chaos theory has been analyzed in part 1, 'The Six Fundamental Characteristics of Chaos and a Process Oriented Psychiatry (POPSY)', with the help of six general and six specific, fundamental characteristics which can be directly inferred from empirical observations on chaotic systems. These characteristics enable a mathematically and physically stringent perspective on mental phenomena which until now could only be grasped intuitively. Four aspects of the relationship between chaos theory and POPSY have been discussed in part 1: (1) Identification of chaos/picture of illness leading to the concept of dynamical disease and to the idea of 'psychological disturbance as dynamical illness', (2) Assessment of chao/diagnosis, (3) Prediction of chaos/ prognosis and (4) Control of chaos/treatment. In particular, the course of Ischizophrenia' has been considered in part 1 from this point of view. The present work extends the considerations of part 1 by showing that the same concepts of chaos theory can also be associated with corresponding concepts in psychology and psychotherapy. 'This enables a general understanding of the human psyche as a (fractal) chaotic system and an explanation of certain mental developments, such as the course of psychosis, the course of psychotherapy and, in particular, the course of an active imagination, as chaotic processes. On the one hand, we show that the developmental course of psychosis is chaotic. On the other hand, we propose the hypothesis that the mental state of psychosis may be a linear information processing pathology.

Keyword(s): Aktive Imagination

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