Spiritual Emergency or Psychosis? How to Tell the Difference

Most people don’t know there’s a difference.

When someone starts having visions, hearing voices, or feeling things others don’t, the system often calls it “psychosis.” And that’s what happened to me.

After my awakening experience in 2008, I began having strange sensations. Visions. Fears. At one point, I was getting a massage when my body suddenly moved into the shape of Jesus on the cross. I felt pain in my hands and feet. I thought I was dying.

Other times, I believed people around me were demons. I was terrified I’d be raped or attacked. These weren’t random fears—they felt real in my body.

But I didn’t understand what was happening. I thought I was losing my mind.

So I told my family. They told me I was psychotic. I ended up in a hospital. I didn’t have the words to explain what I was going through, so I shut down. Doctors ran scans, asked questions, and gave me a diagnosis: schizophrenia.

They gave me medication. I went numb.

For the next eight years, I lived in fear of my own mind. I believed something was wrong with me. I tried to forget those experiences. I tried to be “normal.”

But nothing about it ever felt right.

Understanding the Difference

Psychosis is usually defined as having inner experiences that don’t match the outside world. Seeing things, hearing voices, or having beliefs that others don’t share. But what if those experiences aren’t meaningless? What if they’re trying to tell you something?

That’s what I started to wonder.

In time, I came to understand that I wasn’t hallucinating. I was having a spiritual emergency. A part of me was waking up. And I didn’t have a map.

Here’s how I define it now:
A spiritual emergency is when your inner world opens in a way that challenges everything you believe. You start to feel connected to something greater—but it’s confusing, sometimes even terrifying. Especially when you have no one to guide you.

In my case, I was tapping into memories. Visions. Past life imagery. Collective energy. My brain was trying to make sense of it all. But I wasn’t grounded. I didn’t have the tools to stay present.

And that’s what made it feel like psychosis.

The Problem With Misdiagnosis

When doctors don’t recognize spiritual emergencies, they pathologize them. They see something broken. They try to stop the symptoms with heavy medication. But that often just creates more trauma.

What I needed wasn’t a pill. I needed someone to say:
“I believe you. Let’s figure out what this means.”

Instead, I learned to do that for myself. Slowly. Through years of mindfulness, therapy, and spiritual work.

I also uncovered memories I’d blocked out. I learned that I had experienced sexual trauma as a child. And those fears I thought were delusions? They weren’t random. They were connected to something real. Something my body remembered, even if my conscious mind didn’t.

Tapping Into Something Bigger

Eventually, I found a new understanding.

I believe that what some people call psychosis is actually a deep part of the self reaching for healing. I believe it’s a form of communication—from the unconscious, from spirit, or maybe both.

The problem isn’t the experience. The problem is the lack of support and understanding.

When we don’t feel safe to explore what we’re going through, we shut down. We lose trust in ourselves. And that can be more harmful than the experience itself.

Why I’m Sharing This

I’m writing a book called The Divine Within: Healing Ourselves to Heal the World. It’s coming out soon through Atmosphere Press. In it, I talk more about my journey—what I went through, what I’ve learned, and how I found a path forward.

I talk about the idea of the “collective divine,” which I believe is a shared field we all have access to. A source of wisdom and compassion. You might call it God, spirit, energy, or love. The name doesn’t matter. What matters is how it feels.

In my next post, I’ll share more about a turning point in 2012—when I first suspected that what I was going through wasn’t schizophrenia at all. It was something else. Something sacred.

If you’re going through something like this—or if someone you love is—I want you to know: there’s hope. You’re not broken. And you’re not alone.

You can also visit my website, blossomingheartwellness.com, where I share more resources, blogs, and updates on my upcoming book.

Thanks for reading.