Neurosis. Haven’t we all heard that term before. Nevertheless, do we really know what it means? A vague association with mental illness is struck, and yet each of us appears to have their own interpretation. And yet, it is a condition which affects everyone to varying degrees. ‘No not me, only people that need psychiatric care are neurotic’, the proud reader may respond. And yet, ‘neuroticism’ presents one of the five cardinal personality traits in the Big Five personality model, arguably the most statistically rigorous of them all. This shows neurosis is not a question of ‘whether or not’ but of ‘how much’.
This article will attempt to elucidate the genesis and treatment of this condition with the help of Carl Jung. A condition which after all affects everyone to varying degrees which affects everyone to varying degrees. In its structure the article will use a distinction taken from Carl Jung himself. Along these lines, the first part will regard neurosis from the reductive standpoint and explain the development as well as origins of the condition, with a strong emphasis on the causality of it. In the second part, neurosis will be viewed from a constructive vantage point. Tentative guidelines for a cure will be lain out. On top of that, (spoiler alert) it will be explicated how a neurosis always contains a peculiar germ of finality and destiny within it.
All this with the help of arguably the most remarkable figure in depth psychology, Carl Gustav Jung.
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