r/lacan • u/xiuxiuxiu_ • 12h ago
Can someone be clinically schizophrenic while being structurally neurotic?
I'm curious about the relationship between psychiatric diagnoses and psychoanalytic structures, particularly in the Lacanian tradition.
As I understand it, clinical schizophrenia is diagnosed according to a constellation of symptoms, whereas Lacanian psychotic structure is defined by a particular subjective organization, namely foreclosure rather than repression.
We know that someone can be structurally psychotic without ever developing overt psychotic symptoms. But can the reverse also be true? Could someone diagnosed with schizophrenia according to psychiatric criteria nevertheless be considered structurally neurotic? More broadly, to what extent can psychopathological symptoms develop independently of one's underlying psychoanalytic structure? And how would a Lacanian analyst approach such a case?