Analysis Of The Divided Self By R. D. Laing

In the beginning of part one of The Divided Self, R.D. Laing defines and sets up his forthcoming discussion. Laing focuses on the process of going mad and breaks it down. Those who go mad “transition from the sane schizoid way of being-in-the-world to a psychotic way of being in-the-world” (17). He gives his definition of a “schizoid” patient as an “individual whose experience is split” (17). He struggles in connecting with patients from a humanistic level. Laing does not know how to set himself on the same level as some patients. Patients, in Freudian terms, become separated from you and I and Laing does not like this. He ponders ways to maintain that interaction between two human beings.

Laing is critical about many different practices involving mental health. He is skeptical …show more content…
Ontologically secure people are aware of themselves and others. They can perform functions on a daily basis without an issue. They can form and maintain relationships and don’t have a problem with intimacy and commitment. An ontologically insecure person is the opposite. They are unsure of their existence and need validity for every aspect of life. Laing compares an ontologically insecure person as a newborn baby. The baby is physically and biologically in existence, but it does not yet know of its existence.
Those who are ontologically insecure may not feel as though they are real. He/she may also feel as though they are worthless and bad. One who is insecure may not feel their place in the world because they struggle to feel in place within themselves. He/she canot deal with the average flow of life’s ups and downs. They are not validated in themselves therefore anything (good or bad) can be seen as a threat. This person becomes so overtaken with self-validation that nothing else matters. Ontologically insecure people suffer from three types of anxieties called engulfment, implosion, and