November 7, 2022 2420
5 minutes with a writer. Today, Eleni Karagianni for her book "Right to Heaven", published by Armos publications.
Diligence: Book Press
You are a psychiatrist and psychotherapist. Why did you resort to narratives, stories? What need of yours does this book address?
At some point I felt an excess of emotions, thoughts, reflections. The valuable clinical experience asked for a way to express: The bravery of people who dare to go beyond, the assumption of personal responsibility, the revival of the desire to live. Whereas at first they came in desperate, at a dead end, because they were focusing on the failures of others.
I love all stages of writing. The inspiration that sweeps me away in its wings, the anguish and questioning, the reversal, the climax of the end. A condition of creative solitude, but at the same time very companionable with the persons I approach. I really love my heroes as they face their fate. At first they coordinate with me, but often they become independent and surprise me.
"Individual heaven does not exist", you say. If we depend on others, how will we find happiness?
A loving relationship presupposes freedom. It is important to distinguish it from dependence, as dependence undermines potential and personal development. Conversely, a functional relationship frees creative desire, inspires, mirrors failures, and fosters improvement.
An Individual Paradise does not exist, because as Marcus Aurelius said, rational beings were created for each other. The people who come to my office confirm this to me every day. They anxiously seek to improve their interpersonal relationships because they know that loving relationships bring joy and fulfillment. Ultimately, however, they also discover themselves when they try to connect with others.
Self-awareness is intertwined with interpersonal relationships.
And despite human imperfection, despite the enormous limitations of existence, despite the taste of death we experience daily through frustrations and losses, we are potentially Heaven for each other. I am not referring to a garden that requires no care, where the wind never blows, where the trees never wither, never burn, where everything is given unconditionally.
Why imagine Heaven as a passive indulgence? I am referring to a condition of personal responsibility in which the other and his uniqueness are understood as an enlargement and as an occasion for enrichment. In this condition, the beauty of the faces emerges.
What is depression to you? Why does one turn against oneself?
Depression is repressed anger, which makes it impossible for the person to process and negotiate with the person who caused it. He then turns the anger against himself, sinks into depression, and thus nullifies the creative power contained in the anger.
Many times depression starts early, when a child in trying to connect, tunes in to the feeling of a depressed mother.
Can one find inner balance on their own or is the other necessary? And does this other person necessarily have to be a healer?
Aristotle argued that he who does not need others is either a beast or a God. But it is true that the sport of relationships is very demanding. We are called to face the panic of proximity, diversity, inevitable conflict, but also our inner conflicts. We are called to allow love to teach us transcendence, forgiveness and reconciliation.
I would by no means want to psychiatricize everything and recommend a therapist for everyone. I believe that every authentic relationship has healing power, as love heals wounds, expands the perception of life, gives meaning, highlights the other in its richness and beauty. Starting from the first mirror of existence which is the relationship with the mother, which if it works redemptively gives the most solid foundations of self-esteem and love for life: Since someone recognizes me as a unique person and responds to my desires, I have existence!
How would you describe his ideal reader? Right to heaven; What is he looking for and what will he find?
The one who wants to learn, but also the one who can question and ask existential questions.
The one who longs to think and not just read something superficial and pleasant.
The one who gives value to man, to life and to the duration of the moment.
One who delights in making connections, in searching for his roots, in learning from his history.
He who believes that every human concerns him.
English 
Ελληνικά