Capitalism and Schizophrenia
Basically, schizophrenia is little understood in the medical profession, even though it is given a great deal of attention. In the psychotic episode, the ego's connection to the world becomes detached from the reality of the world because this world cannot keep pace with the speed of thinking and feeling.
This would actually be an asset in capitalism if there were people who were a lot ahead of their time.
The problem with schizophrenia is that there is a rupture, the human ego experiences a severe rupture because thoughts and feelings no longer fit in with this world that has become too slow. What capitalism, in which we now live, then demands of these fast people is a fractured adaptation to the slowness of the world, to the slowness of reality. So fast people have to fit in and adapt again and again because they are ahead of their time.
Capitalism demands subordination to the prevailing discourses, the prevailing ways of thinking and the prevailing moral and emotional world. So schizophrenic people have to lose themselves again and again, doubt themselves because they don't fit into this world.
Can capitalism exploit schizophrenia? Yes, it is possible.
The maladaptive behaviour of schizophrenic people can be used to draw conclusions in order to steer the subordination further into orderly channels and people are pushed further into schizophrenia.
Many people experience psychotic phases when they are afraid and try to explain this fear to themselves. To do this, they have to generate a solution in the abstraction of thinking and feeling. However, if this solution does not fit in with the slow world, they remain anxious and adapted in order to get out of the psychotic phase. In this way, humanity continually prevents itself from developing new abstractions and ideas because capitalism slows down thinking and feeling.
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