Question:
I'm interested in the extent to which kundalini awakening, and shaktipat inparticular, has resulted in mental illness in individuals who were not alreadysuffering from it. I am aware of Sannella and Greenwell's books. Does anyoneelse have references or anecdotes.

Can anyone give me some suggestions???

Answer: Sometimes epileptics-cum-(former)-meditators like myself (and perhaps yourself as well) experience various species of agnosia and/or various species of aphasia.

Very generally speaking, APHASIA is the (i) absence or (ii) impairment of the ability to communicate through speech, writing, or signs because of brain dysfunction.

Again, very generally speaking, AGNOSIA is some degree, from mild to total, of loss of comprehension of auditory, visual, or other sensations although the sensory sphere is intact.

Note: To confuse matters, sometimes these words are used interchangeably I've found.

In what follows below, I offer you a TAXONOMY of aphasias and agnosias:

(1) SPECIES OF APHASIA

(a) Anomic/Nominal Aphasia: The inability to name objects; loss of memory for words(b) Auditory Aphasia: The inability to understand spoken words – "Word Deafness"(c) Motor Aphasia: Aphasia in which patients know what they want to say but cannot say it.(d) Optic Aphasia: Inability to name an object recognized by sight without the aid of sound, taste, or touch.(e) Semantic Aphasia: The Inability to understand the meaning of words.(f) Sensory Aphasia: The inability to understand spoken words IF the auditory word center is involved or written words IF the visual word center is affected.(g) Syntactic Aphasia: Loss of the ability to use proper grammatical construction.(h) Visual Aphasia: Inability to understand the written word

(2) SPECIES OF AGNOSIA

(a) Auditory Agnosia: Mental inability to interpret sounds.(b) Finger Agnosia: Inability to identify fingers of one's own hands or the hands of others.(c) Optic Agnosia: Mental inability to interpret images that are seen.(d) Tactile Agnosia: Inability to distinguish objects by the sense of touch.(e) Time Agnosia: Unawareness of the sequence and duration of events.(f) Visual Object Agnosia: The loss of the ability to visually recognize objects presented, even though some, or even all of the ability to see is intact.