--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Schizophrenia is a successful attempt not…" description: "\"Schizophrenia is a successful attempt not to adapt to pseudo- social realities.\" — R. D. Laing" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfb/r-d-laing-4861_illness_schizophrenia-is-a-successful-attempt-no_2288813.jpg" --- # Schizophrenia is a successful attempt not to adapt to… ![“Schizophrenia is a successful attempt not to adapt to pseudo- social realities.” quote by R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfb/r-d-laing-4861_illness_schizophrenia-is-a-successful-attempt-no_2288813.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfb/r-d-laing-4861_illness_schizophrenia-is-a-successful-attempt-no_2288813.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfb/r-d-laing-4861_illness_schizophrenia-is-a-successful-attempt-no_2288813.jpg) > “Schizophrenia is a successful attempt not to adapt to pseudo- social realities.” [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The statement suggests that schizophrenia reflects a deliberate refusal to conform to socially constructed realities. **In simple terms:** Schizophrenia as a rejection of social norms. Key Takeaway Consider mental illness beyond pathology. Themes psychology social constructs mental health identity nonconformity Mood thoughtful critical Type psychological philosophical When to use this quote - clinical settings - therapy sessions - academic discussions - personal narratives Key Concepts existentialism social theory diagnosis Questions to Reflect On - What social pressures contribute to mental health conditions? - How can society better support non‑normative experiences? A Different Perspective Labeling may overlook individual experiences and systemic factors. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Illness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illness/) [Realities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realities/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Schizophrenia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/schizophrenia/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Successful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/successful/) ## Related quotes > [I think human beings exist in a social world. I write realistic fiction, and so it isn't that surprising that the social realities of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/i-think-human-beings-exist-in-a-social-world-i-write-realistic/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [Only in imaginary experience (in the folk tale, for example), which neutralizes the sense of social realities, does the social world take the form…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bourdieu/only-in-imaginary-experience-in-the-folk-tale-for-example-which/) [Pierre Bourdieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bourdieu/) > [To be a human being is to be in a state of tension between your appetites and your dreams, and the social realities around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/to-be-a-human-being-is-to-be-in-a-state-of-tension-between-your/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“How strange is that we are connected for years and we don't know each other just because we never initiated.. how pseudo is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/himmilicious/how-strange-is-that-we-are-connected-for-years-and-we-don-t-know-each/) Himmilicious > [In the society of men the truth resides now less in what things are than in what they are not. Our social realities are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/in-the-society-of-men-the-truth-resides-now-less-in-what-things-are/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [Because today we live in a society in which spurious realities are manufactured by the media, by governments, by big corporations, by religious groups,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/because-today-we-live-in-a-society-in-which-spurious-realities-are/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [“Social realities that may have appeared inalterable, impenetrable, came to be viewed as malleable and transformable; and people learned how to imagine what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-davis/social-realities-that-may-have-appeared-inalterable-impenetrable-came/) [Angela Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-davis/) > [Facebook, Apple, Tinder, Snapchat, and Google create our social realities - how we make friends, how we get jobs, and how mankind interacts. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brianna-wu/facebook-apple-tinder-snapchat-and-google-create-our-social-realities/) [Brianna Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brianna-wu/) > [“Phenomenological research is a type of research that attempts to understand participants’ perspectives and views of various social realities (Leedy and Ormrod, 2010: 108).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gjoko-muratovski/phenomenological-research-is-a-type-of-research-that-attempts-to/) [Gjoko Muratovski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gjoko-muratovski/) > [The Church responds to antiquated social realities, and those realities remain much more current in Utah precisely because of the Church.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/the-church-responds-to-antiquated-social-realities-and-those/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [There is no such condition as 'schizophrenia,' but the label is a social fact and the social fact a political event.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/there-is-no-such-condition-as-schizophrenia-but-the-label-is-a-social/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [No one has schizophrenia, like having a cold. The patient has not "got" schizophrenia. He is schizophrenic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/no-one-has-schizophrenia-like-having-a-cold-the-patient-has-not-got/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [Schizophrenia is the name for a condition that most psychiatrists ascribe to patients they call schizophrenic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/schizophrenia-is-the-name-for-a-condition-that-most-psychiatrists/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [From the alienated starting point of our pseudo-sanity, everything is equivocal. Our sanity is not "true" sanity. Their madness is not "true" madness. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/from-the-alienated-starting-point-of-our-pseudo-sanity-everything-is/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [Schizophrenia cannot be understood without understanding despair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/schizophrenia-cannot-be-understood-without-understanding-despair/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) ## More by R. D. Laing > [To live in the past or in the future may be less satisfying than to live in the present, but it can never be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/to-live-in-the-past-or-in-the-future-may-be-less-satisfying-than-to/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [We must remember that we are living in an age in which the ground is shifting and the foundations are shaking. I cannot answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/we-must-remember-that-we-are-living-in-an-age-in-which-the-ground-is/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [We live in a moment of history where change is so speeded up that we begin to see the present only when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/we-live-in-a-moment-of-history-where-change-is-so-speeded-up-that-we/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [Our behavior is a function of our experience. We act according to the way we see things. If our experience is destroyed, our behavior…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/our-behavior-is-a-function-of-our-experience-we-act-according-to-the/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [How do we define, how do we describe, how do we explain and/or understand ourselves? What sort of creatures do we take ourselves to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/how-do-we-define-how-do-we-describe-how-do-we-explain-and-or/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [There is a great deal of pain in life and perhaps the only pain that can be avoided is the pain that comes from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/there-is-a-great-deal-of-pain-in-life-and-perhaps-the-only-pain-that/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And because we fail to notice that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/the-range-of-what-we-think-and-do-is-limited-by-what-we-fail-to/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/the-range-of-what-we-think-and-do-is-limited-by-what-we-fail-to-notice/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [In the society of men the truth resides now less in what things are than in what they are not. Our social realities are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/in-the-society-of-men-the-truth-resides-now-less-in-what-things-are/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [The schizophrenic may indeed be mad. He is mad. He is not ill. I have been told by people who have been through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/the-schizophrenic-may-indeed-be-mad-he-is-mad-he-is-not-ill-i-have/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [What is to be done? We who are still half alive, living in the often fibrillating heartland of a senescent capitalism -- can we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/what-is-to-be-done-we-who-are-still-half-alive-living-in-the-often/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [From the alienated starting point of our pseudo-sanity, everything is equivocal. Our sanity is not "true" sanity. Their madness is not "true" madness. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/from-the-alienated-starting-point-of-our-pseudo-sanity-everything-is/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [In describing one way of going mad, I shall try to show that there is a comprehensible transition from the sane schizoid way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/in-describing-one-way-of-going-mad-i-shall-try-to-show-that-there-is/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [Doctors have throughout time made fortunes on killing their patients with their cures. The difference in psychiatry is that it is the death of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/doctors-have-throughout-time-made-fortunes-on-killing-their-patients/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [A psychiatrist who professes to be a healer of souls, but who keeps people asleep, treats them for waking up, and drugs them asleep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/a-psychiatrist-who-professes-to-be-a-healer-of-souls-but-who-keeps/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) [Explore all 105 R. D. Laing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) ## More Illness quotes > [Telling a story of illness, one pulls a thread through a narrow opening flanked on one side by shame and the other by trivia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/telling-a-story-of-illness-one-pulls-a-thread-through-a-narrow/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [Death is in truth an illness from which we recover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/death-is-in-truth-an-illness-from-which-we-recover/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [This tendency to avoid problems and the emotional suffering inherent in them is the primary basis of all human mental illness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-r-swindoll/this-tendency-to-avoid-problems-and-the-emotional-suffering-inherent/) [Charles R. Swindoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-r-swindoll/) > [I think we need to talk about mental illness a lot more. 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