Tulpas and Mental Health: A Study of Non-Traumagenic Plural Experiences

Abstract

Current models of mental health rely heavily on the assumption that only one agent of self exists in every one brain. Deviations from this model of singularity in mind are heavily stigmatized and often considered disordered. This paper opposes this bias by analyzing one form of plurality in consciousness: tulpamancy. Tulpamancy is a collection of meditative techniques used to create and interact with tulpas, which are experienced as fully autonomous and conscious entities within the mind. Research defining the relationship between tulpamancy and mental health is expanded on by analyzing the results of surveys conducted on the online tulpa community. The questionnaires investigate two associations previously found in members of the tulpa community. First, the prevalence of mental illness, which exists in over 50% of the population. Second, the reports of improvements in mental health and cognition, especially amongst those diagnosed with a mental or neurodevelopmental disorder. Study results reinforce the correlation between tulpa creation and perceived improvements in mental health. There is likely no causal relation between tulpamancy and the development of psychopathology. Tulpas are an experience of plurality that seem to coexist with optimal functionality, happiness, and mental health.

Reality shifting: psychological features of an emergent online daydreaming culture

“…Respondents noted that tulpa practice had improved their condition. Similar results were reported from an online survey, including mention of conditions improving because of tulpa and the use of meditation and/or hypnosis (Isler, 2017).…”

Sensory supernatural experiences in autism

“…In Veissière's (2016) study on so-called "tulpamancers," using meditative techniques to evocate sentient companions that can be seen and heard outside one's own body, 25% identified with Asperger's syndrome/HFA. This result was replicated in a study by Isler (2017), in which 28% of the tulpamancers reported having an autism diagnosis. As a point of comparison, the estimated prevalence of autism in the general population is 1.68% (Baio et al, 2014).…”

‘And we are a human being’: Coproduced reflections on person‐centred psychotherapy in plural and dissociative identity

“…Neuroscience discoveries further support the assertion that the human mind is naturally ‘multiple and discontinuous’ rather than ‘singular and bonded’ (Itzkowitz et al., 2015). The existence of multiple self‐states (configurations or parts) has also commonly been observed within the counselling and psychotherapeutic literature (e.g., Mearns, McLeod, & Thorne, 2013), and this common phenomenon is increasingly being regarded as existing on the same spectrum as those dissociative identity phenomena arising in the clinical setting (see, for instance Isler, 2017; Itzkowitz et al., 2015). For this reason, some clinicians and people with lived experience of dissociative identity question the validity of the term ‘disorder’ (Isler, 2017; Itzkowitz et al., 2015).…”

“…The existence of multiple self‐states (configurations or parts) has also commonly been observed within the counselling and psychotherapeutic literature (e.g., Mearns, McLeod, & Thorne, 2013), and this common phenomenon is increasingly being regarded as existing on the same spectrum as those dissociative identity phenomena arising in the clinical setting (see, for instance Isler, 2017; Itzkowitz et al., 2015). For this reason, some clinicians and people with lived experience of dissociative identity question the validity of the term ‘disorder’ (Isler, 2017; Itzkowitz et al., 2015). As commonly attested in critiques of the medical model, the term ‘disorder’ focuses on an individual's struggles rather than their strengths and resources; thus adding to their sense of shame and powerlessness.…”