Introduction

This book presents an alternative perspective on psychiatric patients by incorporating insights from continental (post)structuralist thinkers such as Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, Jacques Lacan, and Slavoj Žižek. Its focus is on the subject —as opposed to the object —a dimension that is often underemphasized in contemporary medicine, particularly in psychiatry. The subject emerges from a state of zero, develops within familial and societal contexts, and may either evolve into a life of richness and creativity or devolve into psychotic constellations. This framework challenges the dominant monolithic naturalistic discourse in psychiatry, advocating instead for a model aligned with Engel's biopsychosocial approach.