Psychoanalysis and the Self: Toward a Spiritual Point of View

• Published in: Explore (New York, N.Y.) N.Y.), 2006, Vol.2 (1), p.30-36
• Main Author: Mack, John E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Attitude to Health; Dreams; Ego; History, 20th Century; Mack; Mental Healing - history; Psychoanalysis - history; Psychoanalytic Therapy; Spirituality; United States
• ISSN: 1550-8307; 1878-7541
• DOI: 10.1016/j.explore.2005.10.008

One of the focus areas of Explore is the role of spirituality in health. This concern was shared by John E. Mack, MD (1929-2004), Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer and professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Mack was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his 1977 biography of T. E. Lawrence (“Lawrence of Arabia”), A Prince of Our Disorder. At the time of his death in 2004, he was speaking in England to the T. E. Lawrence Society Symposium. Returning from dinner, walking to the home at which he was staying in North London on the night of September 27, he was struck by a car driven by a drunken driver and died instantly. Dr. Mack’s interest in the spiritual side of human experience has been compared with that of fellow Harvard alum William James, the “father of American psychiatry.” And, like James, he became a controversial figure for his attempts to bridge spirituality and psychiatry. In attempting to nudge his profession toward a greater appreciation of the role of spiritual factors in health, Dr. Mack had his work cut out for him. Surveys consistently show that psychiatrists are among the most reluctant groups of healthcare professionals to consider a role for spirituality in mental and physical health. Yet his efforts, and those of many others, are bearing fruit. Medicine is being respiritualized on many levels, including the field of mental health. Dr. Mack focused on sleep and dreams early in his career. He later became an expert on the psychological effects of the nuclear arms race and became a passionate advocate for nuclear disarmament. He was always concerned with the psychoanalysis of the misunderstood or vulnerable—suicide-prone teenagers, teens troubled by the prospect of nuclear holocaust, and, later in his career, individuals disturbed by what they considered to be alien encounters. Although he was a tenured professor at Harvard, this particular interest led to an official review of his research methods. Fourteen months later, the investigating committee reaffirmed Dr. Mack’s academic freedom to study what he wished and to state his opinions without impediment. I knew Dr. Mack somewhat; our paths had crossed at conferences that explored themes related to consciousness and spirituality. He was cordial to the idea of nonlocal mind, about which I have written extensively. Prior to his death, he asked me to contribute a chapter to a book he was editing, which I did. The challenge to the contributors, John said, was to imagine what human e