A READING OF PSYCHOSIS IN CONTEMPORARY TIMES

Abstract

This paper examines the configurations of psychosis in contemporary times, focusing on the
differences between classical psychosis and ordinary psychosis. The aim is to connect these
conceptualizations with the transformations of the contemporary master's discourse, in order
to understand their effects on the subjectivity of the time. The work revisits Freud's
formulations, which conceived of psychosis as the result of the self's radical rejection of
incompatible representations, leading to a rupture with reality and the creation of a new
internal reality marked by hallucinations and delusions. Lacan, in revisiting the Freudian
concept of Verwerfung, reformulates it as foreclosure, understanding psychosis based on the
absence of the Name-of-the-Father signifier in subjective structuring, a signifier that
introduces the function of paternal interdiction.
Based on these foundations, the concept of ordinary psychosis is considered as a way to
understand contemporary clinical manifestations in their diagnostic subtlety, given the
pluralization of Names-of-the-Father and psychiatric diagnoses. At the same time, it is
important to emphasize that the modes of relationship between the subject and the social
Other, the constitution of the symptom, and its connection with unconscious knowledge are
intimately linked to the scientific development of each era. Thus, if in the past, hysterical
paralysis was related to advances in neurology, in contemporary times, depression, anorexia,
drug addiction, and ordinary psychoses emerge as symptomatic responses to social
transformations. These manifestations can be understood as a result of the decline of ideals
sustained by the Other, the imperative of consumption, and the strengthening of
neuroscientific discourse, which guides pharmaceutical production. Thus, it is evident that
cultural and scientific changes directly impact the configuration of contemporary
subjectivity.