Hermitix Why Psychosis Is Not So Crazy / Lacan, Language, and Madness as Possibility with Stijn Vanheule
Apr 4, 2026
Stijn Vanheule, Belgian clinical psychologist and Lacanian analyst, explains why psychosis deserves careful listening. He contrasts psychoanalytic and biological views. He discusses medication limits, Lacan’s symbolic concepts, triggers in youth, cultural loss, creativity as expression, and how social encounters can help reintegrate psychotic experience.
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Listen To Psychosis As Meaningful Speech
- Psychoanalysis emphasizes listening to and taking psychotic experiences seriously rather than dismissing them as mere biological malfunction.
- Stijn Vanheule argues hallucinations and delusions can articulate unconscious meaning and should not be immediately corrected away.
Use Medication As Support Not Final Cure
- Use medication as temporary chemical support, not a standalone cure; expect ongoing needs and side effects.
- Vanheule notes antipsychotics help about 25% and often produce numbing side effects that reduce interest in life.
Psychosis Is An Intrusive Break In Subjectivity
- Lacanian view reframes psychosis as intrusion and loss of intimate self-coherence rather than only misperceiving reality.
- Vanheule stresses psychosis feels like something from outside invading your private space, destabilizing subjective consistency.
