Borderline: A Diagnostic Straitjacket?

Authors

  • Marilyn Charles

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1234/fa.v0i78.328

Keywords:

Diagnosis, Reflective Function, Self-Regulation, Trauma, Oppression

Abstract

The reflective capacity needed to mindfully organize and integrate information is under fire from information overload and the trend towards simplistic ‘solutions’ to complex dilemmas threatens that further entrench social problems. Truth, as an inherent value guiding civilized societies, is itself under fire, making the psychoanalytic lens an invaluable tool for creative, respectful engagement with problems in living.Posing the dilemma in that way takes a stand against the language of diagnosis that obscures social problems and makes them even more intransigent. I will discuss how social injustice invites readings of distress in ways that affirm the social order and undermine individual development, and point to how current societal pressures oppose the development of the reflective capacities needed to work towards more effective and human solutions to social problems. I will also suggest how the psychoanalytic lens can aid our efforts towards alleviating human suffering, using clinical vignettes for illustration. 

Downloads

Published

2020-04-23

How to Cite

Charles, M. (2020). Borderline: A Diagnostic Straitjacket?. Free Associations, (78), 50–65. https://doi.org/10.1234/fa.v0i78.328

Issue

No. 78 (2020)

Section

Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms: Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).