The numinous experience in the context of psychopathology and traumatic stress studies
Christian Lönneker, Andreas Maercker
Culture & Psychology September 1, 2021 DOI: 10.1177/1354067x20922139 (opens in new tab)
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA numinous experience is a suddenly appearing, enigmatic, and fascinating state in which one feels influenced by higher powers, described by R. Otto and C. G. Jung. This subjectively non-rational experience has received little attention in cultural clinical psychology but holds potential for explaining psychopathological phenomena. The paper first works toward a contemporary psychological definition by focusing on paradoxical cognitions and dissociation and presenting differentiations and explanatory mechanisms. It then describes the numinous state in clinical phenomena including near-death experiences, sexual abuse of children, post-traumatic stress disorder, prolonged grief disorder, and sleep paralysis. The paper is a theoretical proposal for better understanding subjectively non-rational states in patients.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key finding | Proposes that the numinous experience, defined through paradoxical cognitions and dissociation, can help explain psychopathological phenomena such as those occurring in near-death experiences, childhood sexual abuse, PTSD, prolonged grief disorder, and sleep paralysis. |
Abstract
The psychological phenomenon of a suddenly appearing, extremely enigmatic, and at the same time fascinating state in which one feels influenced by higher powers was described as a “numinous experience” by R. Otto and C. G. Jung. This condition is one of those subjectively non-rational experiences that have so far received little attention in cultural clinical psychology and yet have great potency to explain psychopathological phenomena. In the first section of this paper, we work towards a contemporary psychological definition both by focusing on the roles of paradoxical cognitions and dissociation and by presenting various differentiations and possible explanatory mechanisms. In the second part of this paper, we describe the numinous state as it occurs in selected clinical phenomena such as the subjective experience of potentially traumatic events including near-death experiences, sexual abuse of children, post-traumatic stress disorder, severe states of mourning (diagnosed today as prolonged grief disorder), and sleep paralysis. This paper is intended as a theoretical proposal aimed at better understanding subjectively non-rational states in patients.