Iwao Akita - Wandering Madness: A Japanese Jungian Perspective on Mental Health and Culture

Its a pleasure to write a foreword for such an important work. Dr. Iwao Akita has a similar history as I do, being a psychiatrist and a Jungian analyst. His cases are holistic, and combine his interest in psychiatric medicine as well as analytical psychology. I endorse his approach in using the bio-psychosocial model and his addition of a spiritual dimension. Dr. Akitas approach makes sure that finding meaning in madness is an essential aspect of treating our patients. Im always humbled by William James philosophy and understanding of how religion and illness intersect. Perhaps Dr. Akita is following the lead of this pioneer by understanding the import of how religion, and its influence on culture, shape our care of patients.

David H. Rosen, M.D.
Eugene, Oregon, U.S.A.

In this book, I first proposed the concept of psycheology. Then, I discussed the cause of existence and posed questions regarding madness by using the concepts of personhood disorders and psychopathy. I also explained that the nature of madness involved disordered personhood as a result of pursuing godhood.

You may think that I, as a clinician, should have presented clinical cases or my clients dreams. I rarely brought these up, but used many stories instead. I would like to express my deepest gratitude for these stories. They have always been an intimate part of my clinical work, and my life itself.

I also mentioned the terror of being locked up, with a focus on existence and madness. As discussed, the Minotaur was not locked up in the labyrinth because he was a monster. Anyone becomes a Minotaur if he or she is kept locked up.

The human psyche is connected to everything. That is, the scope of psycheology is such that it requires the study of everything, which is obviously impossible to do alone. Conversely, the good news is that everything can contribute to psycheology . Therefore, I plan to establish my own psycheology by studying what has been important to me, since providing a full foundation for it is beyond my reach. Nothing would make me happier than if my modest attempt contributed to those in the helping professions, as well as to those striving to live authentically.

It is too late to mention, but I used a term personhood disorder in this book. Personhood disorder ( jinkaku-shgai ) was already in use as a mental health term when I first became a psychiatrist in 1985, which continued up until a few years ago when the term was officially replaced by personality disorder (personality- shgai ). Many mental health terms (including psychopathy, moral insanity, and degeneration theory) disappeared after being used for several decades. Personhood disorder has yet to die out completely, but it is disappearing. I ventured to use this term here because, in my several decades of clinical experience, I have met a number of clients whose suffering was aptly depicted by this term. I hope this book will be of some help to those whose suffering was, or still is, in keeping with disordered personhood.