Psychopathology is an aspect of uniqueness (p-i-state) which is perceived (experienced) by one and / or others as a breakdown (disruption, failure) of a natural (adaptive, healthy, normal) i-state within the here-and-now of one’s location and attributed to a (known) mental disorder (syndrome, illness). For any i-state (event) to be considered a symptom, sign or marker (p-i-state), it has to be (i) experienced (represented in awareness) by one (symptoms, signs) and / or by others (signs, markers) as a disruption (dysregulation, failure, absence, violation) and (ii) interpreted to be an indication of psychopathology.
Disruption
Fundamentally, there are no “disruptions” in the physical world of the Big Bang, it unfolds, “as is”, in ways which are only partially known or understood by us. Disruptions take place within an ecosystem (context) of nature, life, adaptation, survival, sensory experience and learning (memory). An event may be perceived as a “disruption” only to the extent it is not perceived to be a “natural” aspect of the physical world. Furthermore, perception and interpretation of an event or an i-state as an aspect of “psychopathology” requires human consciousness (ideation) embedded within a culture, society and language with an established notion of illness (disorder, disease) and its symptoms, signs and markers. Most disruptions are not interpreted to be psychopathological. Some “disruptions” are actually returns to (encounters with) the reality of the natural / physical world.
Relevance
Perception of an event as a disruption hinges on relevance.
Relevance refers to the central (most important) aspects (significance) of an event, is determined subjectively, interpersonally and academically and typically varies within and between the three perspectives. An ability to attend to, recognize, understand and respond to the relevant aspects of an event or a situation is usually life-enhancing (healthy, beneficial, “normal”, expected) whereas a failure to do so is life-adverse (maladaptive, unhealthy, “abnormal”).
Inherent variability and incongruencies in how relevance is perceived and interpreted within the three perspectives lead to disruptions, psychopathology and interpersonal / societal strife.
An event becomes a disruption when it is a violation (dysregulation) of a relevant (adaptive, expected, functional, healthy, normal) aspect of one of the four registers (BODY, LOCATION, CONSCIOUSNESS, PERSON). Psychopathological disruptions may involve relevant aspects of (i) the BODY (homeostatic dysregulation of biophysicality and / or adaptive behavior); LOCATION (violations of consensually adaptive / healthy presence and participation); (iii) CONSCIOUSNESS (dysregulation of attention, awareness, ideational interpretation / understanding) and (iv) PERSON (dysregulation / violation of interpersonal / societal markers of one’s perception by others).
Psychopathological disruptions involve disruptive participation including (i) disruptive engagement and (ii) disruptive dis-association.
Current disruption is caused by a symmetrical / complementary original disruption (incongruous, misattuned relatedness, trauma) between one’s past i-states and locations (i-states of others, stressors) and its formation and structure in the here-now (symptoms, signs and makers) reflect the original one in the past. Prolonged incongruous relatedness leads to disengagement (dis-association), psychopathology and maladaptive participation.
Participation (><)
Along with associative integration, participation is a fundamental constitutive aspect of life and one’s UNIQUENESS among others. Being human and survival are predicated on being with and among other human beings. Arguably, the need and the desire to participate is the most fundamental ontological and developmental demand at all stages of individual life and one’s capacity for meaningful participation is a key aspect of one’s health.
Disruptive engagement is participation resulting in a disruption of relevant aspects of the here-and-now of the natural reality of the physical world. Disruptive engagement involving interpersonal / relational space of being among others may be experienced, perceived and / or interpreted as symptoms and signs of psychopathology (errors, violations, problems).
Dis-association is a form of participation based on dis-engagement from the here-and-now of the immediate sensory / semiotic space (location, reality).
Dis-association (||)
Dis-association is an evolutionary capacity of human consciousness to function independently of all or selected aspects of the immediate here-and-now of the sensory / semiotic space. Dis-association is based on fragmentation of i-states.
Primary dis-associative i-states (dissociation proper) include dissociation (||) of consciousness (C) from one’s corporeality (C=C||B/L/P) (e.g. sleep, trance, daydreaming, absentmindedness, automatic action) or dissociation of consciousness from (i) body-of-location (C=C||B/L); (ii) locality (C=C||L/P) and (iii) body-of-person (C=C||B/P) involving incongruence with and confusion (misrepresentation / misinterpretation) about any aspect of biophysicality of own body and its spatiotemporal and societal / interpersonal position among others (e.g. gender, race, ethnicity, size, weight, appearance, body language, SES).
Secondary dis-associative states include (i) dis-association between private experience (oneness, qualia) and others (societal / interpersonal markers) (B=L=C||P=P) (suppression) (e.g. isolation, deception, secret, gossip, denial, disregard of others); (ii) dis-association between one’s translocal transactions with others and one’s location (B=C=P||L=L) (virtualization) (e.g. remote video / audio / text communications / gatherings, gaming, live TV, sporting / art / music events, ignorance of the location) and (iii) dis-associations between collective (shared) consciousness and the body (L=C=P||B=B) (intellectualization, abstraction, somatization) (e.g. science, literature, art, disembodied social media, psychosomatic symptoms).
Other dis-associative states include (i) dis-association between ipsocentric mirroring (C=P) and location (L=L) or the body (B=B) (e.g. remote audio / textual relationship or mentalization, biophysical masquerade, catfishing, cyber-crime); (ii) dis-association between body-of-consciousness (B=C) and the location (L=L) or the interpersonal / societal markers (P=P) involving incongruity of one’s private, subjective experience with one’s spatiotemporal location and markers among others (e.g. hallucinatory sensations, flashbacks, ignorance / denial of location / others) and (iii) dis-associations between the phenomena (L=C) and the markers (P=P) or the body (B=B) (e.g. cognitive distortions / disorientation, delusions, ignorance / denial).
Finally, there are dis-associations between (i) interpersonal / societal markers (P=P) and the body-of-location (B=L) (unobservable biophysicality) (e.g. incipient / pre-symptomatic illness); (ii) the body (B=B) and societal position (L=P) (e.g. societal / geographical / cultural migration) and (iii) the location (L=L) and the body-of-person (B=P) (e.g. displacement).