The Market Society and Psychological Suffering: A Fanonian Approach

Abstract

This article focuses on the market society as a source of psychological suffering for some people who seek the aid of therapists. I consider the maladies of the market society in terms of internalization and weak dissociation, both of which contribute to misinterpretation and misattribution of suffering, which, in turn, skews individuals' agency. The underlying premise of this article and, more particularly, the work of psychoanalytic therapy with these patients comes from Franz Fanon's view that the aims of psychotherapy are (a) to consciousnessize [the patient's] unconscious, to no longer be tempted by a hallucinatory lactification, and (b) to enable [the patient] to choose an action with respect to the real source of the conflict, i.e., the social structure. An aim of psychoanalytic therapy, then, is to facilitate recognition of a person's sources of suffering so that s/he can decide how to respond.