The Goo Phase of Metamorphosis

October 7, 2020

Metamorphosis isn't pretty. Sorry to break it to you.

You don’t just hop in a chrysalis and sprout wings overnight.

You’ve gotta turn into goo first, just like the caterpillar turns into a soup of amino acids before entering its final form. You’ve gotta dissolve and then be reassembled.

That’s the step our culture largely ignores.

As Maya Angelou once wrote, “We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.”

We celebrate people once they’re healthy, integrated, and/or successful, their wings fully developed.

But what about during the dissolution and reassembly stage, the goo phase? Not so much.

The psychiatric community seems to know very little about the goo phase. It makes them uneasy, especially when a patient becomes psychotic, losing touch with the cognitive constructs we all share.

What if we let such ego dissolution take place in a safe and supportive environment, with nutritional, psychological, and energetic assistance, but without extreme pharmaceutical intervention?

As Robert Whitaker points out, referring to the newly diagnosed “schizophrenic” patient, “We haven’t studied what happens if you don’t put [such] a person on medication and you let ten years play out.”

I’m right here, psychiatry. Come and study me.

Despite my hellish mental state, I was given the space to fully dissolve and then be reassembled without any psychopharmacological intervention, a process that took many years.

And I’m happy to report it has resulted in real metamorphosis. My wings are still developing, but I’m done with the goo phase.

I recognize this path isn’t for everyone. Most choose to take medication, some of whom will experience metamorphosis.

This isn’t about whether you take medication. It’s about whether you’re able to live a deeply fulfilling life and to achieve your God-given potential. If taking medication allows you to do so, then by all means, have at it!

If you're wanting to travel the alternative route, know that there are so many fantastic options available. We are in the early stages of a mental health renaissance, the likes of which this world has never seen.