THE PATHOLOGIZATION OF FEELINGS IN CONTEMPORARY TIMES:RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PSYCHOLOGICAL SUFFERING, WORK ANDCAPITALISM

Abstract

This study analyzes the relationship between psychological suffering, work, and neoliberal capitalism, highlighting how labor precarization transforms collective problems into individualized and medicalized issues. The research is based on a bibliographic review conducted on Google Scholar, covering publications from 2020 to 2026 on capitalism, mental health, work, and the pandemic. The findings indicate that neoliberalism produces self-managed subjects subjected to constant performance demands, while the pandemic intensified fear, isolation, and insecurity, worsening psychological distress among precarious workers. It is concluded that contemporary psychological suffering results from structural conditions of capitalism, which promote the pathologization of feelings and the expansion of medicalization.