The Mental Illness of a Modern Young Person as a Product of Mythological Consciousness

Abstract

Introduction . One of the dangerous trends in the spiritual state of modern society is the predominant orientation of its most active and young part towards a simplified mythological attitude towards the surrounding world as a set of external conditions that exist regardless of the creative transformative activity of a person. The article examines the manifestations of mental ill health in the aspect of the individualistic and consumer attitude to life in a young person to life. In the scientific and philosophical literature, the high role of the personal myth is noted as a kind of psychological mechanism, thanks to which consciousness works in the correct way. At the same time, mass myths, which include, in particular, the myth of social success, people easily use to their detriment. In addition, as a characteristic of mythological consciousness, scientists note the phenomenon of hypostasis as attribution of independent existence to abstract concepts, as well as their sacralization. The scientific novelty of the article is due to the attention to the indicated manifestations of mythological consciousness as evidence of the mental illness of a modern person. Methodology and sources. This article, in line with the sociology of culture and spiritual life, analyzes the manifestations of a person’s mythological consciousness as alarming symptoms of a mass society, indicating a distortion of the cultural norm and deviation in the development of society. The article analyzes the results of an Internet survey conducted among junior students of St. Petersburg universities in order to determine the guidelines of their social behavior. The Internet survey was conducted using the Survio platform, and 127 respondents took part in it. The study was of a pilot nature, it was conducted on a sample population. The representativeness of the sample is ensured by such parameters as the age and occupation of the respondents. Results and discussion. The majority of respondents (61,4 %) preferred the myth of personal success as the most interesting for themselves and those around them, and concepts such as human rights, image and success in the minds of most respondents are hypostatized, that is, they are perceived as external conditions for a prosperous life. Only 7,1 % of the respondents are characterized by a personal understanding of these concepts in terms of guidelines for their personal social behavior. The concept of subjective creativity for the majority of respondents (83,6 %) is sacralized, and it does not allow the slightest restriction of their freedom. Conclusion. The results of the study confirmed the hypothesis that the social behavior of modern youth is largely determined by its adherence to modern mass myths, orienting towards a consumer attitude towards the world, ignoring the need for joint active participation in its creation, towards individualistically understood creative freedom. Such social behavior is one of the signs of mental illness, fraught with a decrease in a person's sense of social responsibility and leading to harmful consequences for society.