1st Edition
A Jungian Analysis of Toxic Modern Society Fighting the Culture of Loneliness
Using evidence from anthropology, neuroscience, psychiatry, analytical psychology and evolutionary biology, within this book Dr Erik Goodwyn explores the current cultural psyche, and how elements of modern society are contributing to the current loneliness epidemic.
Despite tremendous advances in technology, developed countries are more anxious, depressed, suicidal and addicted today than we were one hundred years ago. Why? Research from many fields of study show that loneliness has become an epidemic in the industrialized world, causing very real medical consequences such as addiction, depression, anxiety and suicide: all things which have been on the rise for decades. And yet, because of various historical, philosophical, and economic reasons, we do not nurture traditional cultural ways of satisfying these instincts. This book will explore the idea that stopping the rising misery will not only require socioeconomic changes, but will require a profound cultural change. Only then will we be able to stop the slow starvation of social belonging, archetypal narratives, rituals, spirituality, and images as vessels of meaning.
This will be an insightful read for depth psychologists and scholars of analytical psychology, as well as health care providers, therapists, sociologists, and those with an interest in cross-cultural studies.
1. Can Culture be Toxic? 2. The Social Instincts 3. Hyper-individualism 4. Changes in Family Structure 5. Spirituality 6. Nature Deficiency 7. Education and Mass Media Effects 8. The Achievement Based Value System 9. Modern Culture and its Addictions 10. Intimations of a Cure 11. Tribalism–the Dose Makes the Poison 12. The Meaning-Making Organ 13. The Quest for Sustenance
Biography
Erik Goodwyn, MD, is Clinical Faculty with the Billings Clinic, part of the WWAMI University of Washington School of Medicine - Billings Montana affiliate, Department of Psychiatry and part of the adjunct faculty for both the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky. He has authored numerous publications in the field of consciousness studies, Jungian psychology, neuroscience, mythology, philosophy, anthropology, and the psychology of religion. https://www.erikgoodwyn.com./
‘This evocative, informative and wide-ranging study of loneliness does not pretend to offer a cure but instead explores the rising tides of depression, addictions, suicides and anxiety disorders and the reasons behind them. Dr Goodwyn argues that the present emphasis on individual medication and individual psychotherapy tends to ignore the community and the influence of sociocultural factors and their effect in the decline of mental health, particularly in the US. He suggests that we look carefully at the debilitating nature of our modern infrastructures, their fast competitive, impersonal pace and their consummate consumerism. Such societal structures leave us hungry and desperate for deeper soul connections that might unify rather than separate us. Dr Goodwyn’s multifaceted exploration into the feelings of loneliness that affect our mental health and wellbeing is a much-needed and heartfelt enquiry.’
Dr Elizabeth Brodersen, Accredited Training Analyst and Supervisor, C.G. Jung Institute, Zürich, and editor of Jungian Dimensions of the Mourning Process, Burial Rituals and Access to the Land of the Dead: Intimations of Immorality, (2023)
‘Erik Goodwyn M.D.’s latest book, A Jungian Analysis of Toxic Modern Society: Fighting the Culture of Loneliness is a timely commentary for our troubled times. Human beings thrive or perish in the soil of the culture. Each one of us has evolved survival, social and spiritual instincts for claiming our highest potential. Current culture is skewed towards a survival instinct misguided by the false gods of digitalization, materialism, narcissism and exploitation of environment and fellow human beings leading to a culture of isolation, addiction, and depression. We are in danger of losing several generations of our youth globally to this toxic culture. What stands out is the book's underlying message of hope: he provides not just a diagnosis but also a compelling roadmap for the restoration of our social and spiritual soil fed by the treasures of our depths and transcendence. The seeds of the soul that sprout in this soil blossom into flowers and fruits of meaning and purpose. This is a timely, relevant and an essential prescription for our times and a must read for seekers and scholars alike.’
Ashok Bedi, M.D., Psychiatrist and a Jungian analyst. Author; Path to the Soul and other works at www.pathtotheosoul.com
‘Jungian psychiatrist Erik Goodwyn laments our current state of affairs where the human being has become objectified by biological science, fed medications like a lab rat, and stripped of the holistic commitments that make us uniquely relational and spiritual creatures. As people increasingly suffer in isolation and meaninglessness, the individual becomes sequestered to a lonely existence divorced from the greater communal life of the collective. Rethinking the machinations of Western medicine and capitalistic incentives that keep us enslaved in hegemonic power systems dominated by reductive ideologies, Goodwyn implores us to nurture the sociocultural dimensions of mental health aimed to remedy our malaise from the toxicity of our alienating environments. We have all but ignored our social craving for belonging eclipsed by digital realities and pseudo-cultural mass media that reinforce the pain of aloneness underlying our collective pathos. This book attempts to reorient us to actualize our craving for authentic relationality as social beings in search of soul. An important treatise on reintroducing the humanization of psychiatry in our age of the brain.’
Prof. Jon Mills, University of Essex; author of End of the World: Civilization and Its Fate
