Volume 31, Issue 3

By Manoj Pavithran - Oct 15, 2023

This paper is an attempt to use the lens of the Integral Psychology of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother to gain new insights into the nature of the bipolar disorder, a common mental health issue that affects nearly 1-2% of the global population. Bipolar disorder can be seen as a disequilibrium of the vital being, causing an inflated or deflated self-image, bringing with it extreme mood-swings between hyperactivity and depression. While an inflated ego of the central vital contributes to hyperactivity, the depressive periods show the presence of a deflated emotional being, which is more like a wounded child even when chronologically the person is an adult. These parts of the being remain in the realm of their shadow and emerge in the context of progress the individual is attempting in life. My proposition here is that the universal dynamics of the shadow and its opposition to progress, both at an individual and collective level, is the deep struggle that triggers repressed parts of the vital being to emerge to the surface and take over the surface personality of the people, thus causing the bipolar disorder.