--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Psychoanalysis is the mental illness it…" description: "\"Psychoanalysis is the mental illness it purports to cure\" — Karl Kraus" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/455/karl-kraus-1128_cures_psychoanalysis-is-the-mental-illness-it_2877931.png" --- # Psychoanalysis is the mental illness it purports to cure ![“Psychoanalysis is the mental illness it purports to cure” quote by Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/455/karl-kraus-1128_cures_psychoanalysis-is-the-mental-illness-it_2877931.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/455/karl-kraus-1128_cures_psychoanalysis-is-the-mental-illness-it_2877931.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/455/karl-kraus-1128_cures_psychoanalysis-is-the-mental-illness-it_2877931.png) > “Psychoanalysis is the mental illness it purports to cure” [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Psychoanalysis claims to cure mental illness but may embody the same pathology it treats. **In simple terms:** Therapy can mirror the illness it aims to fix. Key Takeaway Question the assumptions of therapeutic methods. Themes psychology critique mental health paradox self‑reflection Mood skeptical critical Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - clinical practice - self‑help literature - mental health debates Key Concepts therapeutic paradox self‑diagnosis clinical limits Questions to Reflect On - What are the limits of psychoanalysis? - Can therapy be truly neutral? A Different Perspective The field may overlook its own biases. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Illness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illness/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Mental illness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mental-illness/) [Psychoanalysis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychoanalysis/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) ## Related quotes > [Psychoanalysis is that mental illness for which it regards itself as therapy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/psychoanalysis-is-that-mental-illness-for-which-it-regards-itself-as/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [I do not know a better cure for mental illness than a book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-stone/i-do-not-know-a-better-cure-for-mental-illness-than-a-book/) [Irving Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-stone/) > [We celebrate peace. Yet we pay no attention to the ways of curing aggression in human beings. And when one sees in psychoanalysis hostility…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/we-celebrate-peace-yet-we-pay-no-attention-to-the-ways-of-curing/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [As I write, there is a craze for what is called psychoanalysis, or the cure of diseases by explaining to the patient what is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/as-i-write-there-is-a-craze-for-what-is-called-psychoanalysis-or-the/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [I was interested in the nature of human mental processes, which is what got me interested in psychoanalysis. And it became clear to me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/i-was-interested-in-the-nature-of-human-mental-processes-which-is/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [I believe that the Welfare State redistributes poverty and reduces income. As Karl Kraus once said of psychoanalysis, the Welfare State is the disease…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-kling/i-believe-that-the-welfare-state-redistributes-poverty-and-reduces/) [Arnold Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-kling/) > [Journalism, like history, has no therapeutic value; it is better able to diagnose than to cure, and it provides society with a primitive means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-vaughan/journalism-like-history-has-no-therapeutic-value-it-is-better-able-to/) [Bill Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-vaughan/) > [In the traditional urban novel, there is only survival or not. The suburban idea, the conformist idea, that agony can be seen to and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-smiley/in-the-traditional-urban-novel-there-is-only-survival-or-not-the/) [Jane Smiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-smiley/) > [The psychoanalysts pick our dreams as if they were our pockets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/the-psychoanalysts-pick-our-dreams-as-if-they-were-our-pockets/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [The ultimate aim of psychoanalysis is to attribute art to mental weakness, and then to trace the weakness back to the point where, according…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/the-ultimate-aim-of-psychoanalysis-is-to-attribute-art-to-mental/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [Psychoanalysis: a rabbit that was swallowed by a boa constrictor just wanted to see what it was like in there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/psychoanalysis-a-rabbit-that-was-swallowed-by-a-boa-constrictor-just/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [So-called psychoanalysis is the occupation of lustful rationalists who trace everything in the world to sexual causes--with the exception of their occupation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/so-called-psychoanalysis-is-the-occupation-of-lustful-rationalists/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [Most people are sick. But only a few know that this is something they can be proud of. These are the psychoanalysts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/most-people-are-sick-but-only-a-few-know-that-this-is-something-they/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [“Mental illness is not something you misunderstand in this era. Get educated because bias is no different than racism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/mental-illness-is-not-something-you-misunderstand-in-this-era-get/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [I think we need to talk about mental illness a lot more. People complain about tax dollars and say we don't have the money.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nia-long/i-think-we-need-to-talk-about-mental-illness-a-lot-more-people/) [Nia Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nia-long/) ## More by Karl Kraus > [You'd be surprised how hard it can often be to translate an action into an idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/you-d-be-surprised-how-hard-it-can-often-be-to-translate-an-action/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [I don't like to meddle in my private affairs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/i-don-t-like-to-meddle-in-my-private-affairs/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [A historian is not always a prophet facing backwards, but a journalist is always someone who afterwards knew everything beforehand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/a-historian-is-not-always-a-prophet-facing-backwards-but-a-journalist/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [When a man is treated like a beast, he says, 'After all, I'm human.' When he behaves like a beast, he says 'After all,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/when-a-man-is-treated-like-a-beast-he-says-after-all-i-m-human-when/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [They judge lest they be judged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/they-judge-lest-they-be-judged/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [I and my public understand each other very well: it does not hear what I say, and I don't say what it wants to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/i-and-my-public-understand-each-other-very-well-it-does-not-hear-what/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [Satire that the censor understands is rightly censored.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/satire-that-the-censor-understands-is-rightly-censored/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [Hate must make a man productive. Otherwise one might as well love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/hate-must-make-a-man-productive-otherwise-one-might-as-well-love/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [One must read all writers twice--the good as well as the bad. The one kind will be recognized; the other, unmasked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/one-must-read-all-writers-twice-the-good-as-well-as-the-bad-the-one/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [Children today laugh at fathers who tell them about dragons. It is necessary to make fear a required subject; otherwise children will never learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/children-today-laugh-at-fathers-who-tell-them-about-dragons-it-is/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [The little stations are very proud because the expresses have to pass them by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/the-little-stations-are-very-proud-because-the-expresses-have-to-pass/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [The unattractive thing about chauvinism is not so much the aversion to other nations as the love of one's own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/the-unattractive-thing-about-chauvinism-is-not-so-much-the-aversion/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [I have often been asked to be fair and view a matter from all sides. I did so, hoping that something might improve if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/i-have-often-been-asked-to-be-fair-and-view-a-matter-from-all-sides-i/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [In the theater one must sit in such a way that one sees the audience as a dark mass. Then it cannot bother one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/in-the-theater-one-must-sit-in-such-a-way-that-one-sees-the-audience/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [Many desire to kill me, and many wish to spend an hour chatting with me. The law protects me from the former.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/many-desire-to-kill-me-and-many-wish-to-spend-an-hour-chatting-with/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) [Explore all 275 Karl Kraus quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) ## More Cures quotes > [The Only cure for nihilism is for liberal democratic societies - their electorates, their judiciary, and their political leadership- to insist that force is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ignatieff/the-only-cure-for-nihilism-is-for-liberal-democratic-societies-their/) [Michael Ignatieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ignatieff/) > [One of the most powerful concepts, one which is a sure cure for lack of confidence, is the thought that God is with you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/one-of-the-most-powerful-concepts-one-which-is-a-sure-cure-for-lack/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [We are all potentially such sick men. The sanest and best of us are of one clay with lunatics and prison-inmates. And whenever we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-are-all-potentially-such-sick-men-the-sanest-and-best-of-us-are-of/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Jesus never met a disease he could not cure, a birth defect he could not reverse, a demon he could not exorcise. But he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-yancey/jesus-never-met-a-disease-he-could-not-cure-a-birth-defect-he-could/) [Philip Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-yancey/) > [It is some alleviation to ills we cannot cure to speak of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/it-is-some-alleviation-to-ills-we-cannot-cure-to-speak-of-them/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Being single isnt the cause of loneliness, and marriage is not necessarily the cure. There are many lonely married people as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renee-jones/being-single-isnt-the-cause-of-loneliness-and-marriage-is-not/) Renee Jones > [We know nothing of the principle of health, the positive of which pathology is the negative, except from observation and experience. And nothing but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-nightingale/we-know-nothing-of-the-principle-of-health-the-positive-of-which/) [Florence Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-nightingale/) > [One day I was running around playing with my son Connor when afterwards I was sweating, tired and out of breath. I was embarrassed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-carey/one-day-i-was-running-around-playing-with-my-son-connor-when/) [Drew Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-carey/) > [Arise Evans had a fungous nose, and said, it was revealed to him, that the King's hand would cure him, and at the first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-aubrey/arise-evans-had-a-fungous-nose-and-said-it-was-revealed-to-him-that/) [John Aubrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-aubrey/) > [In the history of man it has been very generally the case that when evils have grown insufferable they have touched the point of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-hubbel-chapin/in-the-history-of-man-it-has-been-very-generally-the-case-that-when/) [Edwin Hubbel Chapin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-hubbel-chapin/) > [“Suckers think that you cure greed with money, addiction with substances, expert problems with experts, banking with bankers, economics with economists, and debt crises…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/suckers-think-that-you-cure-greed-with-money-addiction-with/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [A lean purse is easier to cure than to endure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-s-clason/a-lean-purse-is-easier-to-cure-than-to-endure/) [George S. Clason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-s-clason/) > [Physicians, when the cause of disease is discovered, consider that the cure is discovered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/physicians-when-the-cause-of-disease-is-discovered-consider-that-the/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [I think self-deprecation is such a disease, and I want to cure everybody of it and so that's my contribution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-cho/i-think-self-deprecation-is-such-a-disease-and-i-want-to-cure/) [Margaret Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-cho/) > [Care is no cure, but rather corrosive, For things that are not to be remedied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/care-is-no-cure-but-rather-corrosive-for-things-that-are-not-to-be/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) Browse all 1,511 Cures quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Psychoanalysis is the mental illness it purports to cure", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Karl Kraus" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/psychoanalysis-is-the-mental-illness-it-purports-to-cure/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cures" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/psychoanalysis-is-the-mental-illness-it-purports-to-cure/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/455/karl-kraus-1128_cures_psychoanalysis-is-the-mental-illness-it_2877931.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/455/karl-kraus-1128_cures_psychoanalysis-is-the-mental-illness-it_2877931.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/455/karl-kraus-1128_cures_psychoanalysis-is-the-mental-illness-it_2877931.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Psychoanalysis is the mental illness it purports to cure” — Karl Kraus", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Karl Kraus", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Psychoanalysis is the mental illness it...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/psychoanalysis-is-the-mental-illness-it-purports-to-cure/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/psychoanalysis-is-the-mental-illness-it-purports-to-cure/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```