"The Mental Pain of Minorities: Social and Clinical Aspects," Salman Akhtar, MD

2016 Conference Opening Plenary Address: Salman Akhtar

The discord between the subjectivity of minorities and their ecological and cultural ‘holding environment’ (Winnicott, 1960) and their use as dehumanized targets of the majority’s projections causes them chronic mental pain. Seeking to anesthetize their distress, minorities retreat from social participation, nostalgically idealize when they were not the minority, dream of achieving majority status again, exalt fundamentalism, and, at times, discharge impotent rage via acts of ‘terrorism.’ Far better are developments that follow when minorities assert their rights and the majority realizes the benefits of collaboration. Societal measures that assure minorities’ presence in textbooks and their representation in embodied communal narratives (e.g., statues, memorials) go a long way in diminishing their distress. Protection and/or restoration of their rights to vote, run for office, have freedom of movement and expression, and own property are also important. Finally, criminalizing acts of violence as hate crimes increases the sense of minorities’ safety. All this is not only good for them, it is beneficial for the society-at-large and raises all sections of society to a higher humanitarian ground.

Dr. Salman Akhtar is Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Thomas Jefferson Medical College and a psychiatrist at the Jefferson University Hospital as well as a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia. He has served on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis and the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association. His more than 300 publications include 13 books. He also has published seven collections of poetry and serves as a Scholar-in-Residence at the Inter-Act Theatre Company in Philadelphia.