--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is no such condition as…" description: "\"There is no such condition as 'schizophrenia,' but the label is a social fact and the social fact a political event.\" — R. D. Laing" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf6/r-d-laing-4861_political_there-is-no-such-condition-as-schizophre_1966921.jpg" --- # There is no such condition as 'schizophrenia,' but the… ![“There is no such condition as 'schizophrenia,' but the label is a social fact and the social fact a political event.” quote by R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf6/r-d-laing-4861_political_there-is-no-such-condition-as-schizophre_1966921.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf6/r-d-laing-4861_political_there-is-no-such-condition-as-schizophre_1966921.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf6/r-d-laing-4861_political_there-is-no-such-condition-as-schizophre_1966921.jpg) > “There is no such condition as 'schizophrenia,' but the label is a social fact and the social fact a political event.” [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 quote argues that schizophrenia is a social construct, and that labeling is a political act influencing perception. **In simple terms:** Schizophrenia is seen as a social label, not just a medical condition. Key Takeaway Question how labels shape reality. Themes mental health social construct politics labeling identity Mood reflective analytical critical Type theoretical philosophical When to use this quote - clinical diagnosis - public policy - media representation - patient advocacy Key Concepts social theory power dynamics psychiatry stigma Questions to Reflect On - What impacts do diagnostic labels have on people? - How can we balance scientific classification with social awareness? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on labeling can ignore individual experiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Condition Schizophrenia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/condition-schizophrenia-3279110/) [Fact Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fact-political-3279111/) [Illness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illness/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Schizophrenia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/schizophrenia/) [Schizophrenia Label](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/schizophrenia-label-3279109/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Social Fact](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-fact-2219280/) ## Related quotes > [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/) > [A social fact is every way of acting, fixed or not, capable of exercising on the individual an external constraint; or again, every way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/a-social-fact-is-every-way-of-acting-fixed-or-not-capable-of/) [Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) > [ “Here, television succeeded in completing a fantastic operation of directed consensus building, a real power grab, an OPA \[Tender offer\] to the entire society,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/here-television-succeeded-in-completing-a-fantastic-operation-of/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [The fact that political ideologies are tangible realities is not a proof of their vitally necessary character. The bubonic plague was an extraordinarily powerful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/the-fact-that-political-ideologies-are-tangible-realities-is-not-a/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [Local politics, like everything else, are not what they used to be. But the fact is that our political system - like our physical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-alterman/local-politics-like-everything-else-are-not-what-they-used-to-be-but/) [Eric Alterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-alterman/) > [“The most significant fact of political life, which almost no news organization will dare to acknowledge – because it would at a stroke exclude…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-most-significant-fact-of-political-life-which-almost-no-news/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“It’s a sad fact in the political arena that once you get a taste of power, you feel like you know everything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-g-cooper/it-s-a-sad-fact-in-the-political-arena-that-once-you-get-a-taste-of/) [C.G. Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-g-cooper/) > [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 a successful attempt not to adapt to pseudo- social realities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/schizophrenia-is-a-successful-attempt-not-to-adapt-to-pseudo-social/) [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/) > [Colds, ulcers, flu, and cancer are things we get. Schizophrenia is something we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-vonnegut/colds-ulcers-flu-and-cancer-are-things-we-get-schizophrenia-is/) [Mark Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-vonnegut/) > [If the national mental illness of the United States is megalomania, that of Canada is paranoid schizophrenia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/if-the-national-mental-illness-of-the-united-states-is-megalomania/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Living with bipolar, schizophrenia or any other mental condition takes a recognition that one has a chronic condition that needs managing. The management can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/living-with-bipolar-schizophrenia-or-any-other-mental-condition-takes/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [“When had I stopped being a person with Paranoid Schizophrenia, and become a Paranoid Schizophrenic; defined by my illness?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michaela-haze/when-had-i-stopped-being-a-person-with-paranoid-schizophrenia-and/) [Michaela Haze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michaela-haze/) > [It seemed to me the basic definition of mental illness, this persistent, painful inability to simply be with someone else. It might be lifelong,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-thompson/it-seemed-to-me-the-basic-definition-of-mental-illness-this/) [Tracy Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-thompson/) ## 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. 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/) > [I've always been interested in medicine and was pleased when my brother became a doctor. But after thinking seriously about that field, I realized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/i-ve-always-been-interested-in-medicine-and-was-pleased-when-my/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [“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. 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