Helplessness as a fundamental affective category of current malaise: a psychoanalytic essay

Abstract

This article consists of a theoretical essay on psychoanalysis with the aim of characterizing helplessness as a fundamental affective category of malaise in the current time. The results show that helplessness needs to be characterized as an affective category of human subjectivity, in three dimensions: objective, of as a biological constitutional nature; psychic, of as a singular and subjective psychic nature; structural,  as an ontological and ethical nature. Two axes of discussion stand out: (1) the importance of helplessness in the genesis of subjectivity and its relation with violence; (2) the changes in the contemporary social bond that bring the helplessness to the center of the defensive dynamics of the psychic apparatus, with an affective tone that moves from the realm of castration and guilt to pain and mourning. It is concluded that beyond helplessness characterization as a condition and as a state, it is necessary to move towards technical and interventional management and, therefore, to construct a clinic of helplessness more effectively.