IT’S PAINFUL TO SEE
who I grew up with!

PREVIOUS: Levels of Development – part 3b

SITE: “Essential Wholeness: Integral Psychotherapy, Spiritual Awakening, and the Enneagram”- Eric Lyleson

UNHEALTHY (7-9) – ALL Types
LEVEL 7 – Violation
External Behaviors – We are dissipated, eccentric, empty, isolated, rejecting, unstable. We burn bridges & retreat
Internal Attitudes – We are guilt-ridden, impulsive, nihilistic – with dark fantasies & no expectations. We devalue, feel besieged but defenseless

Desire is To – cut off all connections with the world and people (“to hell with everything”)
Basic Fear of this Level – That the world is closing in on us

At Level 7, believing that life has violated us, we become so desperate to get our needs met that it leads to terrifying behavior – we’re willing to harm ourselves & others, causing serious conflict & damage. We see ourselves as victims, which allows us to justify any offensive or abusive action.
● We tend to over-indulge in anything we think will eliminate our pain (food/drug/alcohol abuse, sex, exercise, self-cutting…), but since they’re just an escape from dealing with reality, they causes more suffering.
● We get highly dogmatic, intolerant, inflexible, self-righteous & very
judgmental. Tend to deal in absolutes, as if only we know “The Truth” & everyone else is wrong, while rationalizing our own destructive actions.
* * * *
LEVEL 8: Delusion & Compulsion
External Behaviors – We are erratic, sinister. They repel others & have chronic insomnia. Can become delirious, may hallucinate, project
Internal Attitudes – We are horrified, nauseous, manic-depressive, overheated, with weird perceptions. We distort reality, resist all help, become schizoid (withdrawn / separate)

Desire is To – endure / survive our terrors (staring into the abyss)
Basic Fear of this Level – That we can no longer defend ourselves from outside or inside influences

At Level 8 – Become obsessive about imperfection and the wrong-doing of others, although we may fall into those very actions, hypocritically doing the opposite of what we preach.

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LEVEL 9: Pathological Destructiveness
External Behaviors – We are annihilating, ‘autistic’, deranged, paralyzed, self-annihilating, suicidal, with psychotic breaks
Internal Attitudes – We are imploded, internally chaotic, desperate for oblivion, split off. We feel panic-stricken & damned

Desire is To – leave “reality”, to eliminate all sensory input, to break away from any awareness
Basic Fear of this Level – The basic fear comes true: we are helpless, incapable & useless

At Level 9 we condemn everyone, becoming punishing & cruel – to rid ourselves of “wrong-doers.” Severe depression, a nervous breakdown & suicide attempts are likely. Generally corresponds to the Obsessive-Compulsive and Depressive personality disorders.

* * * * * *
EXP: TYPE 5 person’s disintegration (re. school-shooting)
“On December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza killed his mother, drove her car to Sandy Hook Elementary school where he gunned down 20 children and 7 adults before taking his own life.

It seems that Adam was a typical Enneagram #5 – highly intelligent, socially withdrawn with an inability to emotionally express himself.
• Pent up anger awaits a trigger.  Any Type follows a certain pattern as they deteriorate & Fives decide they need less and less of everything, including food, clothing, hygiene. They tend to become reductionists and worse, nihilists….”(MORE…..by Marcel Elfers)

NEXT : Levels of Development – part 4