During the lockdown, the NHS – the British healthcare system – became overwhelmed, many people needed care, and suddenly, I found myself with a lot of patients with  a common theme in the sessions: too much free time, too much space to be filled, very few social options to run from the emptiness that haunted them. So many processes developed from the fact that people had to sit with two kinds of pain and face their inner voids. Many of them set out to find their voice, try new activities, finish the books piling up, exercise.

When the lockdown ended and that empty space was once again filled with everything we use to run from ourselves, I began to notice something new showing up in the clinic. Something that, at the time, I called a coincidence, since there were only a few cases and I needed more time to confirm my suspicions – years, in fact.

Three of my long-time patients, people I had been working with for over two years, self-diagnosed with ADHD. They self-diagnosed after watching people on TikTok talking about ADHD and its symptoms. But never, in the past three years, had symptoms like the ones they began to describe ever been mentioned in sessions.

Before I go on, it’s important to look at the timeline:

TikTok was created in 2016, launched in 2017. By 2019 it already existed, but was still seen as a teen dancing app. In 2020, with the start of lockdown, TikTok exploded.

Do you remember the dance challenges that so many people joined during lockdown? Do you remember how, back then, that video format didn’t even exist on Instagram yet? And remember how those same dances migrated to Instagram, and people started dancing and pointing at texts in their videos as if no one could read stationary text unless someone pointed to where we were supposed to look?

So let’s recall how media consumption evolved on Instagram:

The option to post 15-second stories launched in 2016 and in 2020, Instagram launched Reels, inspired by TikTok – short videos, vertical feeds, quick cuts.

Now, back to the story.

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Around 2022 and 2023, more people around me and more patients started saying they had ADHD, because they were showing symptoms like:
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- Difficulty concentrating, especially with monotonous tasks.
- Starting many things at once and not finishing.
- “Foggy brain” or the feeling of having a thousand tabs open in your head.
- Losing track of what you were saying mid-conversation.
- Always being late or feeling like you “don’t know where to start.”
- Difficulty organizing the day, even when you want to.
- Difficulty initiating simple tasks (e.g., replying to emails).
- Chronic procrastination.
- “Paralysis” even with easy or urgent tasks.
- Feeling constantly overwhelmed, even without having done anything.

Today, in 2025, the number of people self-diagnosing with ADHD and autism is something we've never seen before.

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And suddenly, I started feeling all of it too. Paralysis when faced with a simple decision. The sense of being stuck just from needing to organize what I’d do in the morning. And the symptom that, for me, was the clearest sign that something bigger than an ADHD epidemic was going on: I could no longer read. Not in the same way.

And I’ve always, absolutely always, not only loved reading but found it very easy, during my whole life. When I was 12, I won an award at school for being the student who borrowed the most books from the library. And suddenly, where did that girl go? Because she wasn't existing in me anymore.

So for me, that moment was essential – to ask myself why – just like what was happening with many of my patients – I, too, was experiencing symptoms I had never felt before. Was it because I worked too much during the lockdown and took on more clients than I should have? Is it my age? And the more I questioned myself, the more it appeared in others too.

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And now, with Artificial Intelligence in the mix, I began to reflect, to research, and I realized that if we remove the self-diagnosis and look at the symptoms with a critical and investigative lens, it becomes very clear where this epidemic comes from: for the past 5 years, we’ve been training our brains daily to consume fast, short, vertical media. For 5 years now, we’ve been reading either with someone’s index finger dancing on screen pointing at the text, or through 10-slide carousels on Instagram. It’s no surprise that reading two pages of a book now feels like the same effort as reading the entire book in one or two days.

And beyond format, we have to look at the type of content we’re consuming. Today, we swallow down multiple types of material at once. I open Instagram and, in less than a second, I see Shih Tzus, cake recipes, and a deep philosophical analysis on how trauma shapes the way we see life. Three friends send me memes, friends who are also messaging me on WhatsApp or Messenger at the same time.

When, in the past, was our brain ever exposed to that? When, during a learning moment or even leisure, would we access more than 10 different topics in under one minute? Is it really that shocking to feel like our brain is overfunctioning, nearly crashing like a game over screen?

Consumption and artificial assistance have assassinated critical and individual thinking. Today anyone can be an expert in anything.

By the way, don’t believe everything I say or write here. Do your own research, form your own opinions. Don’t consume me as if I were a truth-entity living inside your phone.

Because by doing that, from a Jungian perspective, we are drying out our souls.

And that’s what I want to talk about in the next posts:

• AI and critical thinking.
• AI as a tool and not as a nuclear point of consciousness.
• The shape of the psyche in Jung – is your soul expanding or shrinking?
• Inattention: difficulty starting things, at a time when AI does everything in seconds.
• How do we expand and resist the shrinking of the psyche?

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* For this post I've used AI to translate my text from portuguese to english, to ask the dates about TikTok and Instagram launching different formats, and to suggest tags for SEO purposes.

** Image Credit: Sean Mundy

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Symbolic Work is a way the Universe has to speak to you, especially when you are in a process when life is asking you to transform yourself or something, but we get so entangled with the adversities and challenges along the way, that most of the time we miss the messages that are precisely what helps us to give meaning, understand, and move forward. 

We can wish as hard as we can, but the Universe won't grab our hand and say: You are meant to change this, because when you make this, you will learn about that specific thing that was related to X situation in the past, and it was preventing you to move forward and perhaps be where you are meant to be. No, life would be too easy and we would be too lazy. 

‍Symbols serve as a language through which life communicates with us. They can be found in messages, songs, images, art, synchronicities, dreams, words in books, outdoor settings, numbers, and more. While everyone receives these messages, some individuals are more equipped to recognise and interpret them. 

However, it's essential to avoid interpreting them in a way that satisfies the ego's desires and biases. You can determine whether a symbol is being activated by its own force or interpreted by the ego by paying attention to your body's physical reactions such as shaking, hot flushes, a fast heartbeat, or tears. When you experience an immediate bodily response after seeing or hearing something, it's an indication that the symbol has been delivered. 

The "Wow Moment" of things is significant when working with symbols. When you recognize a symbol, it can evoke a sense of disbelief or confusion, leaving you questioning your own sanity. However, these moments indicate that a symbol is attempting to work with you. 

To receive and interpret symbols in a non-egoic manner, it's crucial to practice patience and acceptance. Recognise that you don't have control over the messages you receive or their timing. Let them come in their own time and form without trying to control or force their meaning.

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What are some ways to interpret symbols without being influenced by ego biases?

1) Practicing patience and acceptance that you do not choose and you are not in control of anything - if a message has to come to you, it will come at its own time and form. 

2) Tap into the Collective Unconscious - a Jungian concept that refers to the part of the unconscious mind that is shared by ALL humans and contains universal symbols and archetypes. Accessing the collective unconscious is not a straightforward process and may require significant introspection, self-reflection, and possibly even therapy. However, here are a few suggestions that may help: 

‍Practice mindfulness and meditation: By clearing your mind and focusing on the present moment, you may be able to access deeper levels of the unconscious mind. 

Engage in creative activities: Creative pursuits such as art, music, and writing can help tap into the unconscious mind and bring forth symbolic imagery and archetypes. 

Study mythology and symbolism: Learning about archetypes and symbols from different cultures and time periods can help you recognize them in your own unconscious and understand their meaning. 

3) Tap into Your Personal Unconscious - The personal unconscious refers to all the experiences, memories, and emotions that an individual has acquired throughout their life. These may be conscious at some times but are usually hidden from awareness, and they can have a significant impact on an individual's thoughts, feelings, and behaviours.

‍Journaling: Write down your thoughts, feelings, dreams, and memories without editing or censoring them. This can help you uncover patterns, emotions, and beliefs that you may not have been aware of before. 

Meditation: By quieting your mind and focusing inward, you may be able to connect with deeper aspects of your psyche. You may become more aware of your thoughts, feelings, and sensations, which can reveal unconscious material. 

Work on your expression: Engaging in creative activities such as drawing, painting, or writing can provide a channel for your unconscious mind to express itself. These activities can help you tap into your intuition and explore parts of yourself that may be hidden from your conscious mind. 

Therapy: A trained therapist can help you explore your unconscious mind in a safe and supportive environment. They can guide you through techniques such as free association, dream analysis, and active imagination to help you access and integrate unconscious material.

4) Create a "Personal Symbolic Library"

Engaging in activities such as watching movies, reading stories, and listening to songs can serve as a means of connecting your personal unconscious with the collective unconscious. 

By approaching these activities mindfully, with an intention to gain insight or simply with a greater sense of curiosity and awareness, you can begin to build a collection of personal symbols that resonates with you. 

This collection can serve as a personal symbolic library, offering insight into your deeper self and enhancing your understanding of the universal themes and archetypes that shape human experience.

Understanding the personal meaning behind a universal symbol is crucial because while the symbol may hold a universal significance, its personal meaning varies from person to person. 

For instance, snakes hold a deep loving connection for me as they are associated with profound wisdom, femininity, and spiritual awakening. However, for others, they may evoke feelings of fear, disgust, or other emotions that differ from my own. Thus, it is important to identify a symbol that resonates with you and explore its personal significance. 

In the case of dreams, a general dream interpretation may not be effective as the meaning of the dream is unique to the individual. To truly understand the personal symbolism in a dream, one must connect with their inner images and interpret them through their own lens. 

‍How to Build a Symbolic Inner Library:

To begin building your own personal symbolic library, start by listing your favourite movies, and songs, and drawing symbols that hold personal significance to you, such as numbers and tones. 

This exercise will help you to explore the symbolism that speaks to you on a deeper level and build a personal library of symbols that can provide insight and understanding into your unconscious mind. 

‍Exercise: Visualisation and Symbolism 

Find a calm and quiet place to sit comfortably. Visualize yourself in a place that is familiar and important to you. Imagine discovering a hidden door within this space, which leads you to a lower level. Walk down a long corridor until you reach another door, which you open. 

Inside this room, there are many things: books, plants, animals, people, and elements. Explore the room slowly and with curiosity. In the centre of the room, you'll find a little box. Pick it up and retrace your steps back through the same path you came from. Before you leave the room, open the box. 

Inside the box, there is a symbol - it could be an image, a colour, or a word. This symbol is yours. Before you return to your awakened state, tell yourself and the symbol, "I am open to receive, appear to me." 

Carry the image of your symbol with you for a week. Do not seek its meaning or try to apply logic to the experience. Instead, be open to seeing where the symbol appears. Record everything that comes to mind about the symbol, including any inner associations or questions that arise, in a journal.

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Yesterday was a very symbolic day that brings us different insights to be addressed. The Autumn Equinox marks the end of summer and announces the arrival of winter here in the Northern Hemisphere. We switched positions with the Southern Hemisphere, and now we are the farthest from light, from the sun. In Brazil, the moment is the opposite. Opposite sides, opposite seasons.

One of the most important changes - practically and symbolically speaking - is the change in the amount of daylight in our days. The shadow becomes predominant. But yesterday, daylight and darkness had the same duration. Is a special moment in the year when there balance in the heavens. The perfect harmony between light and dark. Between lighting and shadow. A day when we need to be aware of the opposites. A day that invites us to look and welcome our dark traits, instead of trying to drown them out.

The concept of shadow in analytical psychology is fundamental to understanding the human psyche and our role in society and universal energies. In theory, ideal and desirable would be the possible internal equilibrium just as the equinox brings us: The balance between self and shadow. The exact division of energy invested in the two parts of our mind/soul. But this is just theory.

Part of the meaning of being human is in the constant struggle between these opposing forces that govern us. It’s from this battle that we gain energy and potential to actually live. I have been interested more and more in the concept of Shadow Work. Most psychotherapeutic processes and theories give more space for the narrative of the Self, of what is known. We talk about what we would like to become, we praise our qualities, and somehow drown out defects and desires that may often not be worthy, pure.

Everyone has within them a darkened portion full of truths that cannot be spoken aloud. The Shadow Work gives voice to this other part within us, gives a narrative, creates space, and facilitates understanding. The shadow itself is already a misunderstood concept because it carries a huge negative connotation as if everything there were evil and perverse.

No! The shadow carries everything that we could be, but for some reason we were not, we are not. It carries several potentials that have not yet been touched. It carries desires that for different reasons were suppressed - a profession that could have been exercised, but it wasn’t. A relationship that we were too ashamed to assume. A hidden skill that we couldn’t develop. A very human feeling of envy, jealousy, a rage that we don’t allow ourselves to feel – without realising that only really feeling it would allow that feeling to be depurated.

Light and Shadow, Good and Evil are concepts, words. There is no way to qualify, to measure. What is evil for one person could be basic self-defence to the other one. What makes someone proud to be can be something horrific to another. Don’t judge your self by other eyes metrics.

Don’t label your internal content by social statements. Don’t deny any part of you. Embrace it, this is the first step towards your Higher Self. And that’s what the Equinox is about. Find balance, find love for your hate and proud for your rage.

Tarot Cards related to the theme: The Chariot, The Devil, The Lovers, The World.

The last card of the Major Arcana, the XXI, has a figure that is not a man, not a woman. This person is a dancer. The Dancer. The neutral gender removes the being from the everyday world and brings it to the Transcendental World.

It holds two wands, representing the positive and the negative energetic poles. When it dances, the wands goes up and down, in a compensatory mode, representing the dynamic constant interaction of all opposites.

It is inside a natural arch, that creates a sacred space, separating it from everything that is not meaningful and essential, separating it from everything that it doesn't belong to “her”. Without having around her unnecessary energy, she has space to move within her own personal, sacred space, she is free to express her self freely e without efforts. In Jungian terms, she represents the Self, centre of our psyche.

Her sexual parts remain occults. This reminds us that even if we feel that sometimes we are very close to a big and total “truth", the creative impulse in the heart of every life cannot be totally revealed. Not because she thinks that she is better than others, and not everyone would understand… but simply because the revelation is about a mystic universal secret.

In archetypal language, this tendency to hide our private parts seems to be an instinctive feeling, caused by social restrictions. This archetypal fact reminds us that being naked is something absolutely normal and natural, but our Self always finds the need to be protected and held.

The Self is the centre of our psychological balance. When we lose contact with our internal dancer, we lose this balance. When we lose contact with Nature - our internal nature - we feel inside a feeling of inferiority. For Jung, when we are in touch with with our Natural Self, we don't feel superior either inferior, we only feel finally like: ourselves.

The protection that she has from the Wreath creates a safe space for this new Self that might be emerging, in order to don't let the outside world corrupt who she became. The nice thing here is to note that this protection is illustrated in the card as something from nature - the plants on it affirms this.

This natural element indicates that Protection seems to be a natural and spontaneous need during this stage of our psychological development. The World then comes in a moment where we are completely formed and an entity that cannot be corrupted by the external world and influences anymore. From this wreath, a new being emerges, a new personality starts to be part of the world that suddenly, is different for us.

The World, the card XXI is about the moment in our lives that the main energy is focused simply on the fact of BEING. Being who you truly are. Not thinking anymore how the past still hurts you or how the future can make you happy or disappointed, here, she dances only on the present rhythm, she understands that the only thing we truly have is the NOW.

The four elements in the corner represents what Jung calls “Amplitude of Consciousness”, and it's about that moment in our psychological development when we are able to remove the “Self” of the main focus, and we are mature enough to start to look for collective problems, issues and questions instead of focusing our energy mainly in our Ego-Questions.

The Dancer comes to tell you that she doesn't have to worry about making sense anymore. She doesn't have to spend time thinking about what she said, what she should do. She doesn't think about the past anymore in order to understand what she can ask or do today. She dances the moves she wants to dance, even if people tell her that her moves don't make sense. That her music is weird and loud. That she is dancing too much when personal/family/work problems should have her whole attention.

The dancer learnt that loving you more than loving everything around you can be offensive. That taking care of you instead of taking care of everyone else first, is not always well seen. You understand that it's not only ok to take care of you first when you start to hear the same music that tells you that you have the right to simply be who you really are. And you, you are The World.

The physicists tell s that the World and ourselves are nothing but a dance of particles. In a microscopical level, all the dynamic of opposites loses meaning. In a quantum level, there is no you, me. Black, white. Inside, Outside. The Dancer, IS the World.

And understanding the power that we have when we finally awake to the fact that we are the world, brings the possibility to change not only within yourself but also the world around you.

The Individuation process for Jung is also a collective change. The way someone perceives themselves can interfere in the community around them. When you comprehend this, you reincarnate different in the middle of people around you.

Your ego dies to become the Whole. You die inside to live, in the World. That's the lesson of The World, to remind us that our main purpose in being alive if to find a life with true meaning. I finish with a quote that I read last week for a Seminar that is very much like the whole concept of this card:

“This life of yours which you are living is not merely a piece of this entire existence, but in a certain sense the whole; only this whole is not so constituted that it can be surveyed in one single glance. This, as we know, is what the Brahmins express in that sacred, mystic formula which is yet really so simple and so clear; tat tvam asi, this is you. Or, again, in such words as “I am in the east and the west, I am above and below, I am this entire world.”

— Erwin Schrödinger

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“We, as well as all other living organisms, are but dissociated alters of cosmic consciousness, surrounded by its thoughts. The inanimate world we see around us is the extrinsic appearance of these thoughts. The living organisms we share the world with are the extrinsic appearances of other dissociated alters.”

— Kastrup, B. (2018)

The Past is Just a Story We Tell Ourselves.

The first time I heard this quote from Spike Jonze it sounded beautiful, but I didn't truly understand it as I do now. At that time, my life was happening in what I like to call now “a numb-awake state" where I didn't have much sense of the present. My anxiety inserted me in a constant disturbing futuristic-frequency, making me deal with all the imaginary possibilities ahead, but with no skills to face what was there, in front of me, or to wonder about life as a full circle.

How did I start to get Crazy

So everything that I will try to explain here came from a period that I like to call “When I start to get crazy” - in a good sense. One day I started to reflect on the following personal “logic”:

Imagine yourself in your room, alone, after a long day of work and activities. Try to remember the places you've been during that day. Now, try to see yourself in a place where you had a considerable amount of strangers around you - Inside a bus or a train to go home, for an example.

If that bus was crowded, you can consider that at least 30 strangers were there with you. Now try to think about everyone that crossed your way during that day, every stranger that was around you. Can you remember their faces? Can you imagine their names? No, because they don't exist.

Yes, yes, I know. Hold on!

You will say, of course, they exist Jess! They have families and work and kids and they are people just like you and me. Yes, they are.

But… do you know their names? The stories? What were they wearing, their hair colour? Would you even think about then if you were not reading this? In a normal day, we don't even think about those people, they only exist when in fact we question ourselves about them. Otherwise, they are shadows without faces walking around us.

People start to exist at the moment they cross your consciousness. When you attribute them a name, a story, a narrative. When they pop into your mind when you think about them. Otherwise, if you don't even think about them, where are they??? When somehow your frequency, crosses someone else's frequency.

You are there, walking among 100 strangers. Somehow your make eye contact with someone else. That's it, you make yourself aware of that third person, this awareness brings the existence of that person into your reality. Or when you introduce yourself or make a new friend. You have a name, an interaction, and you start to build a new personal story with that relationship - this comes to your mind, you made it real.

“Ah but you are saying that nothing is real?” Well, yes.

I mean, I do think that nothing is real but this is not what I am talking about here. Yet.

I am trying to show that when you think about what is Real…. Consciousness is all That Is.

Translating: What is Real? Everything you see, everything you feel, everything you think.  Ok. But all of this only exists because it first came into your mind. If your mind doesn't feel, see, hear, think… is simply not there.

I am not saying that we are hallucinating and that other people are not here. Everyone else is a singular and particular Universe part of a big Cosmic Souce of Consciousness. The world that we see, is the world that is within us. Now, alone in your room, think about your friends.

You will maybe remember that your parents are working, they will come home soon.

This is a memory, right? You learnt that your parents, partner, or friends are supposed to be working. You learnt this from your experience of this fact because that probably happened before. Stories are related to the concept of time.

I will use me again to illustrate this. My dearest friend was at home with me and then 30 minutes later she went to Brazil. During the 13 hours that she was inside that plane, I couldn't hear from her, I couldn't talk to her, I couldn't see her, everything I had from her was memories.

At that moment, Maite only existed in my mind. I could try anything, she was simply nowhere. Her existence was on hold. I knew about her based on my concept of time and the memories that I have from our story together. But to get even crazier: Maybe she didn't even exist! Maybe one day I woke up and I invented that I was living with her and that we had so many amazing stories and that I loved her.

The curious thing here is that as soon as she got internet, she texted me to say that inside the plane she had the feeling that when you are flying time doesn't exist anymore. You are just…. there, waiting, on hold.

Ok, let's bring all of this to “everyday real-life now”.

The same applies to what we understand as our Past. And if we understand better our past we can shape our present perception and interaction with life.

Think about you as a kid. Your favourite toy. Try to see you sleeping in your bed when you were a kid. Try to remember your favourite dish, your favourite t-shirt. The feeling you had when your parents were arriving at home. Or the fear of some experience that really hurt you at that time.

Does it exist? Is this feeling real anywhere else than in your head and heart when you think about this moment in the past?

No.

You can do anything on Earth, this will never come back. Now, the only place this exists is inside of you.

You won't feel that pillow and blanket, you won't hear that childhood music in the TV ever again. (Yes, you have youtube but this will never bring you the same experience, only a replica). Your past is a memory. Is only a story that you tell yourself over and over. Nothing more.

And when we understand this, we see that we can shape the stories that are echoing inside of our heads. The things that truly hurt us, our negative memories. You can try to close your eyes and see that they are not here anymore, and they will only be here because you bring them to your frequency, you make them real inside of you, again.

You can understand that maybe you are stuck in a Character that not even suits who you are anymore. You can see that maybe your ego is just someone telling you the same victim story over and over again.

And if you think that our life experience is shaped based on how we perceive things, and our perception is based on our point of view, if you can change your narrative you can change absolutely everything that is around you. Consciousness at its simplest refers to sentience or awareness of internal or external existence”.

I know it sounds impossible and trust me, I am the one doubting myself constantly every single day, but if you truly, truly get it… you will see that the Whole Universe is you. And you are the owner of every single thing inside this Universe. Then you understand that somehow, you are also, God.

Suggested Readings:

The Idea of the World: A Multi-Disciplinary Argument for the Mental Nature of Reality

https://www.amazon.com/Idea-World-Multi-Disciplinary-Argument-Reality/dp/1785357395

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