When Kundalini Shows Up in a Psychiatric Clinic: Diagnostic Delays and Clinical Conundrums

Abstract

This presentation will outline the case of a 40 year old lady who was referred by her family doctor to a hospital based general psychiatric outpatient clinic. On the face of it she suffered from anxiety but on the second meeting with the psychiatrist it became clear that she was going through a spiritual emergency, specifically a kundalini awakening or what Bentov called the “physio-kundalini syndrome”. After a presentation of a general outline of the case the presenter will go onto reflect on the possible reasons for the delay in diagnosis. There will also be a discussion of some of the subsequent therapeutic work that was undertaken in the psychiatric clinic and the clinical dilemmas that arose therein.

Presenter Bio

Tony Benning graduated from Manchester Medical School in 1995 and undertook psychiatric training in the UK and Australia. He practices general adult psychiatry in Maple Ridge, BC, Canada, and is a clinical instructor in the faculty of medicine at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC. Dr. Benning’s interests include cultural psychiatry, exceptional human experiences, indigenous mental health, and the interface between psychiatry and religion/spirituality. He recently completed doctoral studies at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, CA.