Andries,

               Hysteria is a very poor reference for any thoughtful consideration of what 'mental illness' is and no progressive model of 'psychlogical distress' would encompass such a gender loaded concept.

Whether Rawat is or is not suffering from  clinically identifiable psychological impairment/distress is probably not the key issue - the fact is he displays behaviours which many of us would consider at the very least to suggest that he is affected by a considerable degree of psychological distress. The very fact of his alcoholism, which has been attested to by a number of observers is evidence of that distress.

This is a particularly important issue for critics of Rawat because his cult clearly encompasses a pathological anxiety and disgust for psychological distress - witness the use of claims of 'mental ill health' to denigrate those who have criticised Rawat, as evidenced by the Elan Vital FAQs. Any reasonable person would see how grotesque this perjoritive use of the 'mentallly ill' label is. Further anyone who is experiencing clinically identifiable psychological distress is disbarred from participating in TheKeys process. There are clear grounds for criticising Rawat and his organisations for their attitude toward people who are suffering from psychological distress - and given Rawat's own psychological state - that criticism must be carefully considered if hypocrisy on the part of the critics is to be avoided.

Nik