A Case Study of the Self-nonself Circulation Principle in Action: Toward a New Synthesis Beyond Division Between Inside and Outside World in Nursing

We have been confronted with too many contradictions, oppositions, or paradoxes in our daily lives inside us, around us and even beyond us. Previously, from a dichotomous perspective, such emerging paradoxes were considered only as negative and destructive forces. The authors challenge this traditional view, because there appears the resilience or negative capability that constructive outcomes can be developed. Whether constructive or destructive outcomes appear depends on how we deal with paradoxes. Actually, in the history, paradoxes and even unpredicted failures have been the mother of creativity. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, most of us, even uninfected people, not only live in the shattered outside world, but also suffer the mental illness in the inside world because of lower social resources, lower economic resources, and so on. The previous Chapters dealt with how to integrate shattered outside world based on the self-nonself circulation theory of life. The remedy was clear: it was necessary to consider multiple issues together rather than step by step. Then, the present Chapter not only discusses how the same theory can provide us with a better understanding of the mental problems arising inside us, but also describes how it can work in a practical way during nursing.