The purpose of life will be debated, theorised, and discussed ad infinitum, but a very clear purpose of and for life is the need to leave a legacy. We are all here for the short term, nothing more than a blip in the human-construct of time and space. This much is absolutely clear. We know of death, but not what it entails, and sadly many of us are aware of just how special our life is, yet refuse to try and understand it, or make sense of its very magikal construct.
I discuss the importance of legacy in my books, and go into great detail regarding that very subject, so I will not do that here, however, the importance of legacy is but one of the many purposes of life that we should all aspire to achieve and leave behind as a contribution for our future selves and the future of humanity as a collective. Another is our relationship to the development and growth of fellow man, let alone simply our loved-ones.
Through love, care, attention, affection and teaching, amongst other things, our lives are an entanglement of "human development" irrespective of our many differing undertakings and projections onto the people and the world around us. Human beings are meant to grow, to learn, and to empower one another, but sadly there are too many who choose the opposite, which is to say, they take great pride and satisfaction from the destruction of others. It is truly fascinating.
What fascinates me the most though, is the lack of attention to a phenomenon that happens all around us every day, yet receives little to no attention, thus meaning we have very little understanding of its presence and its full impact, and that is Psychogenic disease (or psychogenic illness).
Psychogenic Disease is a name given to physical illnesses that are believed to arise from emotional or mental stressors, or from psychological or psychiatric disorders. It is most commonly applied to illnesses where a physical abnormality or other biomarker has not yet been identified.
Whilst this may cause pain within the human body, it can seriously contribute to death of oneself, simply by the power of the mind. In other words, when someone has completely given up on life, this can result in death, and what little research exists, suggests this can happen within days.
One such relatable belief that has yet to be studied, but I know exists, is the cause of death brought on by having or feeling that a person has no more 'perceived' usefulness in this world. When we lose everyone around us, or there is a loss of a family member, there is the very real scenario of death by broken heart, or by Psychogenic Disease, however, more often than not, perfectly fit and healthy human beings are losing their conscious life for no apparent reason, and there has been a suspect increase in this phenomenon over the last 15 years.
We grow exponentially, when we grow together
This is not due to or caused by suicide. It is not caused by extreme anxiety, panic disorder or depression, all of which I suffer, or have suffered from time to time, including having suicidal thoughts. These deaths have their own seperate statistical data associated with them. This increase of unusual deaths is down to giving up on life, and it is the world around us, and the people around us, as well as traumatic events in one's life, that are all contributing factors to this way of passing.
It is Dr John Leach, of Portsmouth University, England, who stated, as part of his own research, that there are five stages to the phenomenon that we should all pay heed to. It starts with social withdrawal. People who are slowly giving up will almost overnight lose interest in things they had enjoyed just days before.
The second is apathy, which occurs when a person is no longer interested in looking after themselves and may even lack the motivation to shower. The third step is the inability to take initiative or make decisions, and the fourth can see patients become incontinent and lie in their own waste.
Psychogenic death is the fifth stage and is described as someone totally losing the will to live.
Giving up could stem from a change in a frontal-subcortical circuit of the brain that governs how a person maintains goal-directed behaviour.
I found Dr Leach's research to be rather interesting as I can attest to a very close friend who is no longer with us, seemingly moving on under the duress of the above thought process. All of which true, with exception to stage four.
We are here to leave a legacy, and we can and will empower one another to accomplish, achieve, and ensure a glorious life here on Earth. We stand firm in togetherness, and dedicate ourselves and our growth to ourselves. It is worth noting and understanding that living in the world as is; when we grow, our usefulness to others around us dissipates, and our added value to all others degrades. We lose those around us, be it by drifting apart, or by death.
With every instance of our being being picked apart by the passing of time, we all grow closer to the potential for psychogenesis. We can all be there for one another, and look after each other as a unit of strength, empathy, growth and encouragement.
With Love,
Stephen Purdon