Mattias Desmet on Control and Totalitarianism in Times of Crisis

„The coronavirus crisis did not come out of the blue. It fits into a series of increasingly desperate and self-destructive societal responses to objects of fear: terrorists, global warming, coronavirus. Whenever a new object of fear arises in society, there is only one response and one defense in our current way of thinking: increased control. The fact that the human being can tolerate only a certain amount of control is completely overlooked. Coercive control leads to fear and fear leads to more coercive control. Just like that, society falls victim to a vicious circle that inevitably leads to totalitarianism, which means to extreme government control, eventually resulting in the radical destruction of both the psychological and physical integrity of human beings.“

Mattias DesmetMattias Desmet explains how increasing control in crises can lead to fear and eventually totalitarianism.
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Mattias Desmet is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Ghent.

Mattias Desmet warns about the societal consequences of increasing control in times of crisis.


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Quote by Mattias Desmet on control, fear, and totalitarianism during coronavirus crisis

Mattias Desmet teaches Clinical Psychology at the Department of Psychoanalysis and Clinical Consulting at the University of Ghent. His department's research is strongly clinically and practice-oriented. He focuses on theoretical and practical aspects of psychological counseling and psychoanalysis.

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