Normal Crazy vs. Extra Crazy: Disarming Your Defensive States

We in Integral Land are fascinated with development and personal evolution. We discover ourselves anew again and again, for better and worse, through each developmental stage as it manifests through us. Hopefully, as we live, love, and practice, we support our own personal evolution into the freedom of integral consciousness, where we have so many more choices. The price of stability at the integral altitude is committing to ever deeper awareness of regressions and fixations — allergies and addictions — inevitable components of our human incarnation package.

Every stage shares joy, sorrow, insight, grief, trauma, love, lust, rage, jealousy, clarity, delusion, etc. When we feel safe, we are usually comfortably social with ourselves and others. When we feel threatened, our nervous systems (our adaptive unconscious, our Shadow selves) can generate defensive states to protect us. These states amplify or numb emotions, distort perspectives, pump out destructive impulses, and diminish self-reflection and empathy.

Most of us are normal crazy when threatened — we become distorted but can soothe ourselves back to clarity and social engagement, often supported by caring influence from others.

All of us have had at least some moments where we’re extra crazy — we refuse self/other regulation, defend our distortions, and double down on destructive impulses. To some, extra crazy is a constant threat and burden, and the developmental challenge is to grow from extra crazy to normal crazy.

As above, so below. In a holographic universe, culture reflects individuals and vice versa. I’ve found that cultural crazy/extra crazy becomes more visible to me the more visible my normal/extra crazy becomes to me. Perceive self more clearly to perceive culture more clearly.