Psychiatry can be defined as the science of reducing mental suffering and enhancing mental health. To date, the field has been primarily concerned with the first part of the definition. For example, in the index to the Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, the word “neurosis” has over 400 references. In contrast, the word “health” is not even listed. This imbalance also tends to be true of contemporary texts. This situation is understandable because psychiatry originated to deal with disordered function. The question, “What is the function of a healthy person?” requires the further question, “What is the purpose of human life?” This latter question is not usually asked because it is assumed to be answered by simple observation of the everyday activities of the general population.

The first segmented time that is seized from the eternity by modern man is his misconception of the purpose of life. In other words, his perception of life is mistakenly limited to this material world. The reason why you frequently hear the expression “mid-life crisis” is because the perception of life has a dead-end within a person’s psyche. This means enjoying life while being young. However, a person with such reasoning ignores the fact that he is being enjoyed instead. Stated differently, he is being driven by compulsive addictions without realizing it.