The Economization of the Social Sphere and the Compulsion to Self-Optimize - Implications for Attitudes Towards People with Schizophrenia

Abstract

Attitudes towards people with schizophrenia are not improving, but instead have deteriorated over the last 30 years. This, it is argued, is related to a process of economisation of the social, which, especially in the market-radical version of neoliberalism, has placed the competitive character in society as a priority. The calculative way of dealing with oneself is dominant both individually and socially. In recent years, this has given rise to a persistent trend towards self-optimization, which has an inclusive quality: If you keep up, you belong. On the other side, there is an exclusive quality too. In the course of this, people with schizophrenia are increasingly seen as a potentially burdensome reduction of peoples own opportunities. This may contribute to the widely observed negative changes in attitudes towards people with schizophrenia.