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ArticleNo Access

The Mystical Experience as a Suicide Preventive

Published Online:https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.130.3.294

Three suicidal adolescents suffering from schizophrenic reactions developed the ability to conjure up a mystical consciousness. Directly experiencing this "oceanic" state (or just its memory) provided the patients with a reliably soothing safeguard against their overwhelming loneliness and possible suicide. Recognition by the psychiatrist of the mystical state as a transitional phenomenon points the way to the most effective therapeutic stance.

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