Mental illness Quote by René Girard
““The individual who "adjusts" has managed to relegate the two contradictory injunctions of the double bind - to imitate and not to imitate - to two different domains of application. That is, he divides reality in such a way as to neutralize the double bind. This is precisely the procedure of primitive cultures. At the origin of any individual or collective "adjustment" lies concealed a certain arbitrary violence. The well-adjusted person is thus one who conceals his violent impulses and condones the collective's concealment of them. The "maladjusted" individual cannot tolerate this concealment. "Mental illness" and rebellion, like the sacrificial crisis they resemble, commit the individual to falsehoods and to forms of violence that are certainly more damaging to him than the disguised violence channeled through sacrificial rites but that bring him closer to the heart of the enigma. Many psychic catastrophes misunderstood by the psychoanalyst result from an inchoate, obstinate reaction against the violence and falsehood found in any human society””
About This Quote
Source Book: Violence and the Sacred by René Girard, 1972
The quote explains how individuals cope with contradictory social demands by compartmentalizing them, a process rooted in primitive cultural rituals that mask underlying violence. This concealment creates a “well‑adjusted” façade, while those who resist it experience mental distress and rebellion, revealing deeper societal violence.
In simple terms: People hide conflicting pressures by splitting them, which masks deeper violence; resisting this leads to distress.
Recognize and confront hidden societal violence rather than merely adapting.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- therapy
- social work
- organizational change
- activism
- education
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How does society benefit from exposing its hidden violence?
- What alternatives exist to the “well‑adjusted” façade?
The approach may overlook individual agency and the possibility of constructive transformation beyond mere exposure.
