New Forms of Self and Psychic Suffering Today and their Implications for Psychoanalysis

This paper examines the emergence of new forms of self and psychic suffering in Western societies, contrasting them with earlier eras. Drawing on Frankfurt School critical theory and contemporary psychoanalytic insights, the authors argue that our neoliberal era has produced fragmented, exhausted selves struggling to maintain coherence amidst relentless demands for productivity and self-optimization. Through composite case vignettes from psychoanalytic practice, the paper illustrates how individuals today often present with a split between outward functionality and inner turmoil, relying on external scaffolding like addictions or social media validation to hold themselves together. Unlike the repressed Victorian self or the empty postwar self, the contemporary self is characterised by a flattening of interiority, erosion of agency, and difficulty engaging in self-reflection or forming meaningful relationships. The authors contend that psychoanalysis faces significant challenges in this context, as its emphasis on intimacy, vulnerability and meaning-making clashes with neoliberal values. However, they argue psychoanalysis can play a vital role in resistance by creating spaces for critical self- reflexivity, reconnecting individuals to their social contexts, and fostering genuine human connection. This requires moving beyond neutrality to actively engage with socio-political realities in the clinical setting. Ultimately, the paper suggests psychoanalysis must navigate a precarious position—being true to its core relational ethics while adapting to a cultural milieu that often devalues depth and interdependency. By illuminating how neoliberalism deforms personality and social bonds, psychoanalysis can contribute to imagining and cultivating more humanising alternatives beyond its reach.