Schizophrenia in the Neoliberal Age

A Heideggerian and Hanian Perspective

Bible prophets — Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel by Leopold Bruckner n Saint Nicholas Church

Martin Heidegger’s concept of Dasein, translated from German as “being-there,” provides a critical lens for examining the subjective experience of schizophrenia. Dasein is not merely about physical existence; it encompasses the entirety of one’s experiential reality — thoughts, emotions, perceptions, and relationships with others and the world. In the realm of schizophrenia, this existential framework becomes particularly significant. Schizophrenia does more than alter a person’s thought processes and perceptions; it fundamentally changes their mode of being in the world.

For individuals with schizophrenia, the world is often experienced in a profoundly different way. Their perceptions and cognitive processes do not align with the conventional or accepted norms. Hallucinations and delusions, for instance, are not just symptoms to be clinically managed; they represent a different way of experiencing reality. This shift in perception and cognition challenges Heidegger’s notion of the ‘average everydayness’ that characterises most human experience. In schizophrenia, the ‘everydayness’ is disrupted, leading to an existence that is markedly distinct from the normative experiences.

Heidegger’s notion of the historicality of existence — the idea that our understanding of being…