Fix CPTSD Podcast | Psychology and Philosophy in Narcissistic Times with Richard Grannon Bateson's "double bind theory of schizophrenia", 1984 psychology of torture, narcisstic abuse
Jun 29, 2020
An exploration of Bateson’s double bind and how contradictory demands in vital relationships can trap people. Discussion of family dynamics that concentrate pathology onto one member and links to childhood communication breakdown. Analysis of propaganda, political messaging and torture as real-world double binds that enforce helplessness and distorted reality testing.
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Schizophrenia As An Environmental Double Bind
- Bateson's double bind frames schizophrenia as an environmental learning problem rather than a purely biological disease.
- Richard Grannon explains it as a repeated, relational pattern where conflicting messages and threats of pain undermine reality-testing.
Memorize The Four Double Bind Criteria
- Learn the four criteria of a true Bateson double bind to detect manipulation in relationships and propaganda.
- The criteria are: two+ people with a victim, repetition, a primary injunction with threat, and a contradictory higher-level injunction.
1984 Torture Scene As A Double Bind Example
- George Orwell's 1984 interrogation scene illustrates a textbook double bind: Winston is tortured repeatedly while asked to state reality.
- Winston is punished for telling the truth, lied to, and punished again, creating no safe response.