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The Self and its Disorders

Gallagher (2024) The Self and its Disorders

Abstract

Shaun Gallagher offers an account of psychopathologies as disorders of the self. The Self and its Disorders develops an interdisciplinary approach to an ‘integrative’ perspective in psychiatry. In contrast to some integrative approaches that focus on narrow brain-based conceptions, or on symptomology, this book takes its bearings from embodied and enactive conceptions of human experience. Gallagher offers an understanding of the self as a pattern of processes that include bodily, experiential, affective, cognitive, intersubjective, narrative, ecological and normative factors. He provides a philosophical analysis of the notion of self-pattern; then, drawing on phenomenological, developmental, clinical and experimental evidence, he proposes a method to study the effects of psychopathologies on the self-pattern. The book includes specific discussions of schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, depression, borderline personality disorder, and autism, among other disorders, as well as the effects of torture and solitary confinement. It also explores a variety of issues that relate to therapeutic approaches, including deep brain stimulation, meditation-based interventions, and the use of artificial intelligence and virtual reality.

Link to Publication

Concepts Decentralized Self, Decentralized thinking, Human Behavior, Identity, Psychological flexibility
Relevant learning goals Conceptual Thinking, Critical Thinking, Metacognitive Competency, Systems Thinking
Relevant subject areas Philosophy, Psychology
Relevant research methods Conceptual clarification, Content analysis, Scientific clarification
Relevant projects Annotated Reading List, Decentralized Self, Understanding Agency

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