Selections from various lectures Mental and emotional disorders have reached epidemic levels in Western societies. Self-doubt, panic attacks, anxiety disorders, and personal fears of all kinds present major challenges to contemporary medical science. Rudolf Steiner's spiritual research offers a startlingly original and complementary contribution to this problem. True insight into psychological issues requires knowledge of the influences of spiritual beings, he suggests. In everyday life we are all confronted with metaphysical entities that can hinder or aid our development. Many forms of anxiety and self-doubt derive from such meetings on the border--or threshold--of consciousness. Furthermore, these "threshold experiences" are exacerbated today by a general loosening of the subtle bodies and components of the human soul. As these constitutional changes persist, according to Rudolf Steiner a condition of "dissociation" becomes increasingly common. A healthy emotional life will never be possible unless individuals engage in a conscious practice of personal self-development, strengthening their constitution through the action of one's "I." The expertly selected and collated texts in Self-Doubt offer numerous cognitive and practical ideas for the improvement of everyday mental and emotional health. C O N T E N T S Introduction: Seminal Ideas and Historic Moments, by Stephen E. Usher 1. The origin of error, fear, and nervousness2. Crossing the threshold in the development of humanity and the individual3. The polarity of shame and fear4. The polarity of doubt and terrifying disorientation5. The polarity of skepticism and claustrophobia, astraphobia, and agoraphobia6. The origin of panic7. Worry and anxiety8. The multilayered nature of terrifying disorientation/confustion- Memory and memories- Compulsive thoughts and depression resulting from trauma- Nightmares and elemental beings- Association and dissociation- Loosening of the subtle bodies- Demons, spectres, phantoms and their effects on the subtle bodies9. Healing aspects of the anthroposophic path of training- Development of organs of supersensory perception- The soul process of light- Wonder, compassion, conscience10. The spiritual-scientific qualities of fear AppendixNotesSources