The primordial mind and the psychoses☆
Michael D. H. Robbins
Psychosis August 25, 2011 DOI: 10.1080/17522439.2011.605905 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 2 |
| Key points | Argues that 'primordial mental activity' (PMA) is a normal, distinct mode of mind present from birth that is driven by somatic sensation and affect and disregards time, logical causality, and the internal/external boundary. The author contends that PMA underlies dreaming and predominates in infancy and early childhood, is normally suppressed or regulated by thought in adulthood, and predominates in socially maladaptive ways in psychoses when development thwarts the integration of thought and PMA. |
Abstract
Primordial mental activity (PMA) is a normal way that mind works both in learning and expression that is qualitatively different from rational realistic self-reflective thought. It appears to have a distinctive neurological circuitry and to be present from the onset of life. It is driven by somatic sensation and affect, it is enactive and concrete, holistic and de-centered, and produces states of belief and actualization that disregard time and logical causality and do not distinguish internal from external reality. This modality is responsible for dreaming and it predominates in infancy and early childhood. In normal adult life many of its manifestations are ordinarily suppressed (unconscious) and others are more or less adaptively controlled and regulated by thought, including parent-infant bonding, spiritual states and creativity. In pathogenic developmental circumstances that thwart the development of thought and the integration of thought and PMA, the manifestations of PMA predominate in socially maladaptive ways we know as psychoses.