Soul sickness can be justified from a religious perspective as what happens when a soul gets "cut off from God". But you have to really think about what God IS, not just what stories you were told about It.

The first sickness of the soul is Anonymity. This is what happens when the soul stops being able to feel its connection with other souls. We send out signals, but they don't seem to come back, and the radio silence disturbs us. This is what it feels like in high school for many of us, when we seem to fade and dissappear in a world of people who don't notice us anymore.

Smart people talk a lot about connection, and about how Life is all about connecting. Think Patch Adams, who ran the gamut of soul sickness and came out clean--because he found that connection again.

Anonymity is only a feeling, but it is dangerous because of what it becomes if it becomes real to us.

Click here for Soul Sickness Two: Anomie.