The Dark Night Of The Soul

Many cultures both today and in ancient times purposely attempt to undergo and mimic what is called "The Dark Night Of The Soul", and some where and are somewhat successful, but it is said that the only real way to completely experience it is when an individual experiences a major traumatic event in ones life such as the death of a child, a sincerely traumatic divorce or an extremely life changing event. 

What happens is this: 

It is when a person enters an emotional state (usually for an extended period of time) and somewhat like deep, chronic depression, but is said to be much deeper or on a different level, and usually occurs after an extreme life changing event.

I will expand on this below.

Today, it can be difficult for psychiatrists who must be able to diagnose an individual from severe, chronic depression and "The Dark Night Of The Soul" which is said to be much worse than the former.

Unlike depression, "The Dark Night Of The Soul", the conceptual reality in ones mind or the framework of one's mind suffers a complete and utter "collapse"...

Everything the person has worked for, loved, has achieved and has based their entire life around, suddenly and completely collapses, leaving the individual in a deep state of; hopelessness, despair, anguish, questioning ones existence and the world around them; What was the purpose of all of that?, What is the purpose of life?, What is the purpose of that window?, What is the purpose of a car?, What is the purpose of anything?

It is through this painful process that the individual eventually suffers a type of death, not a physical death: The egoistic person dies and becomes a different individual in a higher consciousness and when they emerge out of "The Dark Night Of The Soul" (though some do not make it out and may end their life by their own hand), will have a better understanding of life, the world, people and their connectedness to things, people, nature and that everything is connected in the Universe.  

They will see the world and the people in it very differently and vastly different then the people around them do.

What appears so important to the people around them, will have no use or importance to the individual because they are at a higher consciousness and they have a deep understanding of the unimportance of those things. 

For some people, "The Dark Night Of The Soul" happens naturally and may not last very long, and for others it can be caused by an external force such as severe emotional trauma and can last a fairly long time. But, it can be different with each individual. 

“There can be no rebirth without a dark night of the soul, a total annihilation of all that you believed in and thought that you were".