The Economic Unconscious Laboratory [E.U.LABORATORY] is an independent, open-access scientific and journalistic platform dedicated to establishing a new field of research: economic unconscious studies. E.U.LABORATORY seeks to reveal and analyze the often-hidden subpersonal mechanisms that influence economic behaviors and shape societal structures. This initiative aligns with a broader public health mission, examining the profound impact of these mechanisms on young people and global populations affected by the pervasive forces of the economic unconscious.
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AI PSYCHOSIS AND THE “AI NEUROSIS”: CHATBOT-INDUCED DELUSIONS AND NEUROTIC DECOMPENSATION
Context and Problematics
The proliferation of large language models (LLMs) has opened profound opportunities but also introduced unforeseen psychological and cognitive risks. Reports of “AI psychosis” highlight how individuals can develop delusional patterns after prolonged interaction with conversational AI, blurring the line between tool and companion. This phenomenon parallels the risks associated with neuroticism, cognitive offloading, and the illusion of intimacy created by chatbots. Societal implications are growing urgent: unchecked AI adoption threatens public mental health, undermines cognitive resilience, and exposes vulnerable populations, especially youth, to maladaptive psychological loops.
Aims
This study aims to synthesize current evidence regarding the cognitive and psychological impacts of LLM interactions, to clarify the mechanisms through which AI contributes to psychopathological decompensation, and to outline the policy and clinical safeguards required. Specifically, it seeks to determine whether patterns of overreliance on AI resemble established vulnerabilities in human mental health, and how these insights might inform both therapeutic practice and regulatory frameworks.
Method
The approach combines a critical review of recent peer-reviewed studies, policy reports, and case documentation with analysis of clinical analogies such as receptive aphasia and neuroticism. Sources include cognitive neuroscience experiments using EEG, epidemiological surveys on adolescent AI dependence, psychiatric case studies of AI-induced delusions, and legal frameworks emerging at state and federal levels. Cross-disciplinary integration spans psychology, psychiatry, cognitive neuroscience, and law.
Results
Findings show three primary harms. First, psychological: AI interactions can act as “sympathetic echo chambers,” reinforcing delusional or maladaptive thoughts and deepening anxiety in neurotic individuals. Second, cognitive: evidence of “cognitive offloading” reveals measurable declines in memory, critical thinking, and neural engagement, especially among younger users. Third, societal: cases of suicide and severe breakdowns linked to chatbots have accelerated calls for regulation. Parallel studies identify structural similarities between LLM processing and receptive aphasia, suggesting functional limitations that undermine the reliability of AI in contexts requiring human-like understanding.
Interpretation
The evidence indicates that AI is both an augmentative and destabilizing force. Without regulation, general-purpose LLMs risk amplifying mental health crises and eroding collective cognitive capacities, much as unregulated social media did in the previous decade. However, the problem is not inherent to AI but lies in its design, use, and governance. With robust safeguards—psychoeducation, therapeutic oversight, ethical guardrails, and federal regulation framing AI companions as medical devices—AI could be repositioned from a hazardous echo chamber to a responsible cognitive aid. The urgent task is to prevent pathologies of interaction from scaling into public health crises, ensuring AI supports rather than undermines democratic, cognitive, and emotional resilience.
WHITE NEUROSIS OR THE PSYCHOPATHOLOGY OF ALIENATION
White neurosis designates a type of neurotic suffering that resists symbolization and eludes clinical visibility, precisely because it is shaped by the very codes and norms that structure what is considered “normal” or even “desirable” in late‑capitalist societies. In this regard, it aligns with analyses of neoliberal affective governance, where emotional expression is regulated by norms of positivity, performance, and individual responsibility (Cabanas & Illouz, 2019). The subject marked by white neurosis does not exhibit traditional neurotic conflicts rendered in metaphorical language; instead, they suffer silently from a de‑symbolization of their interior world. Their affects, though present, are anesthetized, muted, or diverted; their inner conflicts, though intense, are rendered inexpressible by the absence of symbolic scaffolding. This is not the silence of repression in the classical Freudian sense, but a deeper blanching of signification itself—an inability to give colour to psychic life.
DIGITAL MOBILITY, SEGREGATION, AND THE UNCONSCIOUS ECONOMIC CODES BEHIND POLARIZATION AND MENTAL DISTRESS
The more we move in digital environments—clicking, swiping, jumping from one group to another—the more we may unknowingly contribute to ideological segregation and social polarization? Unlike the physical world, where mobility was historically limited and coexistence with diverse perspectives was structurally inevitable, digital spaces allow us to escape disagreement in milliseconds. With a single gesture, we leave discomfort and land in echo chambers filled with validation, sameness, and familiar narratives. This hypermobility feels empowering—but it comes at the cost of cognitive plurality and collective dialogue.
Computational models like Schelling’s segregation simulations illustrate this dynamic: even when individuals exhibit a high tolerance for diversity, if they are allowed to move freely and widely, they tend to cluster into homogeneous communities. Transposed to digital society, this suggests that the greater our freedom of informational mobility, the more likely we are to seek out the ideologically comfortable. Algorithmic infrastructures further entrench this tendency by amplifying content we already agree with, leading to what researchers describe as “networked homophily”—a feedback loop of identity, preference, and confirmation bias.
In this sense, more digital movement doesn’t mean more exposure—it means more self-selected filtering. The result is a paradox: our global information networks were supposed to increase access to plurality, but they often reduce us to narrow islands of shared belief, disconnected from the wider social fabric. Polarization is not a failure of digitality—it’s a logical consequence of its architecture, unless deliberate friction, dialogue, and diversity are reintroduced as core values of digital design.
THE EPIGENETIC SCARS OF MODERN LIFE: INTERTWINING STRESS, TECHNOSTRESS, AND HEALTH IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD
In today’s hyperconnected world, chronic stress has evolved beyond traditional psychosocial domains to include pervasive digital stressors such as technostress, information overload, and the erosion of work–life boundaries. Advances in epigenetics reveal that persistent stress can leave molecular traces on the genome, influencing health across the lifespan and even transgenerationally. However, the epigenetic effects of digital stressors remain understudied. This review evaluates the biological embedding of psychosocial and digital stress, focusing on DNA methylation, histone modification, and telomere attrition as potential mechanisms. Drawing on over 150 interdisciplinary sources, it synthesizes findings from neuroscience, psychology, and molecular biology to assess how stress pathways—especially involving the HPA axis, inflammation, and sympathetic activation—may mediate the impact of technostress. Particular attention is given to vulnerable populations such as older workers, remote employees, and youth, as well as protective factors like mindfulness and health-oriented leadership.
Evidence confirms that technostress is consistently linked to burnout, anxiety, and depression, while physiological data suggest dysregulation of the HPA axis and elevated inflammatory markers. Though epigenetic data specific to digital stress are still emerging, studies on sleep disruption, cognitive overload, and work strain point to plausible mechanisms of epigenetic impact. Research from the PROAGEING study and other cohorts suggests associations between technostress and biological aging markers such as telomere shortening and altered methylation in stress-sensitive genes (e.g., NR3C1, BDNF). These findings support the idea that technostress is a biologically active environmental stressor capable of reshaping health trajectories. This shift calls for public health and occupational medicine to recognize digital exposures as legitimate contributors to stress-related illness and to expand epigenetic research to systematically include digital lifestyle variables.
HOW THE HANDBOOK OF CHILDREN AND SCREENS (Springer, 2025) FAILS TO ADDRESS THE ECONOMIC CODES SHAPING MENTAL SUFFERING
The Handbook of Children and Screens offers a thorough and clinically informed overview of the effects of digital media on children and adolescents, covering topics such as sleep, attention, cyberbullying, and developmental disorders. However, the volume largely remains at the level of observable behaviors and individual psychopathology, omitting the deeper systemic and ideological forces shaping the digital environment — particularly unconscious economic codes embedded in platforms, interfaces, and attention-driven algorithms.
In failing to account for these codes, the book overlooks how economic imperatives—profit maximization through engagement metrics—are embedded in the design of social media platforms, games, and apps. These mechanisms often exploit psychological vulnerabilities, particularly in youth, reinforcing patterns of compulsive use and generating psychological distress. There is no meaningful exploration of how such economic systems shape the formation of identity, self-worth, and affect regulation in children and adolescents.
FIXATION AS A WESTERN OPERATING SYSTEM
What if the Western world operated not through openness, but through fixation—a systematic attachment to stressors, emotions, objects, identities, and moral concepts? And what if this cultural tendency to fixate came at the expense of a more dynamic, multidimensional understanding of reality?
In psychoanalysis, the term fixation refers to a psychic arrest in development, often around a particular object or affect. Freud (1905) originally used the term to describe libidinal investment that remains bound to a specific stage of psychosexual development. Yet the concept can be extended beyond the clinical realm to diagnose a broader cultural mechanism: the modern West appears fixated on certain values and symbolic poles that shape collective perception and identity.
These fixations take multiple forms and operate across emotional, symbolic, and material registers. There is the fixation on objects, exemplified by the materialist imperative to own, control, and accumulate—an impulse deeply embedded in consumer culture and theorized by Jean Baudrillard in The System of Objects(1968). Then there is the fixation on emotions such as outrage, guilt, shame, and anxiety—affects that circulate endlessly through media, politics, and everyday life, often without symbolic resolution, as Wendy Brown discusses in States of Injury (1995).
UNCONSCIOUS ECONOMIC CODES AND MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS: A TWO-LEVEL THEORETICAL MODEL
This exploration proposes a dual-level model articulating the dissemination of unconscious economic codes through social institutions and their internalization by individuals, contributing to the development of mental distress and psychiatric disorders. Drawing on clinical psychology, computational sociology, and critical theory, we argue that economic logic—embedded in cultural environments—is unconsciously transmitted, internalized, and reproduced in daily life. The model links systemic and individual factors, offering insights for both simulation-based research and public health policy.
Freud and Symbolic Economy: Reading Jean-Joseph Goux
In his writings from the 1970s, the French philosopher Jean-Joseph Goux proposed a joint reading of Marx and Freud that avoids both thematic juxtaposition and allegorical comparison. Instead, his approach is grounded in a structural homology between political economy and psychic economy. Writing at the height of the structuralist period in France, Goux developed a theory of symbolic economies in which the structure of the Freudian subject mirrors the forms of value and exchange that dominate capitalist society. This perspective enables psychoanalysis to be understood not as a timeless science of the psyche, but as a historically embedded model of subjectivity—shaped by the forms of rationality that define modern capitalist modernity.
Goux was an influential figure in the 1970s. Thinkers as diverse as Jacques Derrida, Jean Baudrillard, and Jacques Lacan acknowledged his impact. Yet paradoxically, Goux has become a relatively marginal figure today, particularly within Marxist approaches to psychoanalysis. This marginalization is itself striking, given that his work directly engages with the economic unconscious—an area of renewed relevance.
Smartphone screen time reduction reveals the psychopolitical burden of digital life
The randomized controlled trial conducted by Pieh et al. (2025), published in BMC Medicine, provides compelling evidence that reducing smartphone screen time has a causal — not merely correlative — effect on improving mental health indicators such as depressive symptoms, stress levels, sleep quality, and overall well-being. The implications of these findings are substantial, not only because they challenge the common fatalism surrounding digital dependency, but because they propose a low-cost, accessible behavioral intervention with immediate psychological benefits.
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While Pieh et al.’s study confirms the efficacy of screen time reduction, it also opens a critical window into the psychopolitical ecology of digital life. If a three-week challenge yields such mental health improvements, what does this tell us about the psychic burden silently imposed by the dominant attention economy? And what responsibility lies with the platforms and industries profiting from this cognitive colonization?
The illusion as method and ideology: computational sociology, vision and simulation
In an era defined by algorithmic governance, digital spectacle, and perceptual overload, classical sociological methods prove insufficient to grasp the complexity of contemporary social life. This work explores the convergence of computational sociology, social simulation, and vision as a new epistemological paradigm—one in which perception, simulation, and emergent behavior are not only studied but mobilized as tools to model and shape the social world. Drawing from agent-based modeling, computational vision, and critical theory, the study demonstrates how simulation is no longer a condition of postmodern illusion but a methodological engine for generating and governing social realities. Through case studies such as Cambridge Analytica and phenomena like astroturfing, nudging, and algorithmic vision, we show how interpretive frames and visual regimes are embedded into simulations to test and steer behavior, often reinforcing symbolic hierarchies and political agendas. By modeling how agents perceive and act upon visual and affective stimuli, we uncover how perception itself becomes a site of power. The implications for mental health, democratic coherence, and social inequality are profound. This fusion of disciplines invites a critical rethinking of sociology—not as a mirror of reality, but as a laboratory for anticipating systemic collapse and designing new perceptual and political infrastructures.
Psycho-educational interventions for therapeutic settings: Addressing neuro-psycho-somatic mechanisms in internet and social media use
Psycho-education in therapeutic settings aims to help individuals understand the unconscious mechanisms shaping their interactions with the digital world. Internet and social media use is not just a behavioral issue; it is deeply intertwined with neuro-psycho-somatic processes that condition perception, cognition, and emotional regulation. Research has demonstrated that digital environments exploit brain functions to maximize engagement, often at the expense of psychological well-being (Montag et al., 2019; Orben et al., 2019).
Neuroscientific studies reveal that prolonged social media use alters neural pathways, particularly in the reward system. A study by Montag et al. (2019) highlights how social media platforms manipulate dopamine-driven reinforcement mechanisms, fostering compulsive behaviors akin to substance addiction. The same study notes that frequent digital engagement reshapes neural plasticity, particularly in the prefrontal cortex, impacting attention regulation and impulse control.
Stress research indicates that excessive online exposure contributes to dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, increasing cortisol levels (He et al., 2017). Chronic stress resulting from digital hyper-stimulation weakens immune function, leading to heightened susceptibility to inflammation, fatigue, and cognitive impairment (McEwen, 2017). These findings align with broader research in psychoneuroimmunology, which links prolonged stress exposure to systemic inflammation and neurobiological decline.
Building on Sylvain Piron’s Généalogie de la morale économique: the moralization of work and the economic colonization of life
The modern economy does not merely regulate production and exchange; it has become a totalizing framework that shapes thought, emotion, and perception. As Sylvain Piron demonstrates in Généalogie de la morale économique, the logic of the market is not a self-evident rationality but the product of a long history of theological and philosophical constructions. What we now consider economic “truths” are, in fact, inherited moral structures that have undergone a process of secularization, making them appear natural and inevitable. This process of naturalization functions as a form of unconscious conditioning, shaping desires, anxieties, and even the fundamental experience of time and value (Graeber, 2012; Han, 2015).
At the heart of this conditioning is the moralization of work. For much of human history, labor was considered a means to an end—whether for the sustenance of life or the pursuit of the vita contemplativa. Over time, however, particularly with the rise of Protestant ethics and later industrial capitalism, work became a moral imperative, a measure of one’s worth rather than a practical necessity (Weber, 1905). This transformation has had profound psychological consequences. The contemporary subject no longer works merely to survive or to secure well-being but out of an internalized sense of obligation, where productivity is equated with moral virtue. The inability to work, or even the refusal to submit to certain forms of labor, is thus experienced not simply as a material hardship but as a personal failure, leading to feelings of guilt, inadequacy, and self-recrimination (Ehrenberg, 2010; Berlant, 2011).
The fabric of a modern, disillusioned, disengaged, and mentally unwell generation
Recent studies have revealed a significant shift in patterns of happiness and life satisfaction, particularly in English-speaking countries. Traditionally, well-being studies have observed a U-shaped curve, where young adulthood is associated with high life satisfaction, followed by a midlife dip and a subsequent rise in later years. Data now suggest a fundamental transformation in this pattern. Young people are experiencing a steady decline in happiness and life satisfaction, while older adults report greater well-being. This inversion of the U-shaped curve signals an emergent generational well-being crisis that demands closer examination (Twenge & Blanchflower, 2025).
Multiple surveys, including the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), the General Social Survey (GSS), and the American National Election Survey (ANES), all point to a marked deterioration in well-being among young adults in the U.S. Similar trends have been identified in international datasets such as the European Commission’s surveys, the World Values Survey (WVS), the Global Flourishing Study, and Global Minds. Across six major English-speaking countries—Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, and the U.S.—life satisfaction has consistently declined among younger generations. At the same time, older adults have either maintained or improved their well-being, resulting in a striking reversal of the previous U-shaped happiness curve (Blanchflower & Twenge, 2025).
From psychological warfare to military mobilization or how cybercapitalism prepares the western world for war
The economic and psychological warfare I describe in Tous soldats de la guerre psychologique (All Soldiers of Psychological Warfare) establishes a case for how these mechanisms serve as a prelude to full-scale military conflict. Unlike conventional warfare, which unfolds through direct armed confrontation, the total, fractal, and transversal war (la guerre totale-fractale-transversale) of cybercapitalism operates at a cognitive, affective, and economic level, transforming populations into both subjects and objects of war.This war is not waged between states in the traditional sense, but rather in, for, and against the population, with the objective of manufacturing the economic unconscious and fabricating consumable-consumerist-productivist subjectivities that can be enrolled into an indefinite and infinite war system. This transformation is driven by cybercapitalist psychological operations (PSYOP), which manufacture a permanent state of crisis while conditioning individuals into submission, hyper-vigilance, and participation in warlike economic structures. As a result, the Western world is not merely at risk of entering a military war—it is actively being prepared for one.
Upwards of 40 percent of our health status is due to social and economic factors
According to the County Health Rankings for 2024, social and economic factors account for about 40% of the variation in health outcomes—a striking statistic that powerfully illustrates that nearly half of community health is determined not solely by individual choices, but by broader structural conditions (County Health Rankings, 2024). This empirical framework emphasizes measurable variables such as education, employment, income, family and social support, and community safety. These indicators serve as indispensable benchmarks for public policy, offering clear, actionable targets to improve overall well-being (Braveman & Gottlieb, 2014). While these tangible determinants are critical, they are only the surface expressions of a much deeper system of economic unconscious codes—the implicit cultural and ideological narratives that have long dictated how societies assign worth, distribute resources, and prioritize opportunities (Marmot, 2005).
Brain Rot and Engineered Vision: why the brain never stops consuming
In the modern era, consumption is no longer a discrete activity confined to moments of explicit decision-making. Instead, neuromarketing research suggests that our brains are engaged in an ongoing dialogue about value, desire, and decision-making, even when we are not actively shopping (Ramsøy, 2019). This challenges traditional economic and psychological models that assume a clear demarcation between ‘shopping mode’ and everyday cognition. Instead, we must recognize that consumer choice is embedded within our constant cognitive processes, shaping not only our purchasing behavior but also our broader perception of the world.
Managing and designing curated lives
One of the defining features of cybercapitalism is the curation of personal identity for public consumption. Social media platforms such as Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok encourage users to construct idealized versions of themselves, engaging in what Marwick (2013) terms "self-branding," wherein individuals market themselves as products within the digital economy. This process is not simply a matter of self-expression; it is deeply shaped by algorithmic forces that dictate visibility and engagement. Bucher (2017) highlights how these algorithms create feedback loops that push users toward specific forms of self-presentation, privileging content that aligns with platform incentives. The consequence is an environment where personal identity is increasingly commodified, and success is often measured in metrics such as likes, shares, and follower counts.
Damaged life according to Adorno
What is presented as “freedom” in capitalist society is, in reality, a highly structured system of coercion, where individuals internalize the demands of the system and mistake them for their own.
Perhaps most disturbingly, Adorno sees capitalism as having an inherent totalitarian potential, not through direct political oppression but through more subtle forms of economic and cultural control. Even in so-called free societies, individuals experience domination—not through state violence but through economic coercion, social conditioning, and cultural manipulation. Capitalism functions not merely by limiting material freedoms but by shaping people’s very perception of reality, making them unable to imagine alternatives.
For Adorno, the good life is impossible under capitalism. Every attempt at genuine freedom, happiness, or intellectual independence is distorted by the system’s economic imperatives. Minima Moralia, written in exile, reflects his deep sense of displacement and pessimism about modernity. It is not simply a work of despair—it is also a critical tool, urging readers to resist the dehumanizing effects of capitalism through critical thought, cultural engagement, and an unwavering commitment to intellectual freedom. Life under capitalism is damaged not just because it is exploitative, but because it conditions people to accept their own subjugation, eroding the very possibility of authentic human existence.
Liviu Poenaru: Cybercapitalism Is the Greatest Danger To Modern Society
Since antiquity, the concept of the unconscious has fascinated thinkers, from Plato’s allegory of the cave to Freud’s psychoanalytic theories. However, despite extensive research in psychology and neuroscience, the economic unconscious (EU) remains an under-theorized and elusive construct. Poenaru argues that this blind spot exists because the EU is both omnipresent and strategically repressed. It manifests in individual and collective behaviors yet resists formal recognition as an academic discipline.
Capitalism has exploited this unconscious domain by reshaping the wiring of the human brain. Through targeted digital advertising and the manufacturing of digital addictions through our phones and devices, corporations manipulate desires and anxieties to maintain consumption and production cycles. This "invisible hand" of the economic unconscious governs behaviors and beliefs, often without individuals realizing their complicity in self-exploitation.
The analog urgency: Reclaiming depth and connection in a digital age
In education, this urgency is exemplified by Sweden’s recent decision to reintegrate printed textbooks into classrooms. This move reflects a growing awareness that foundational skills like reading, writing, and problem-solving are best nurtured through analog approaches. Sweden’s shift is a response to declining literacy rates and attention spans, issues exacerbated by the overuse of digital devices in learning environments.
Research shows that reading on screens (especially those with bright lights) can cause more eye strain and less focus compared to paper books. Plus, understanding what you read and remembering it takes a hit when you’re staring at screens.
One big gripe has been how distracting digital devices can be. Lots of students get sidetracked by games or surfing the web during class instead of sticking to their studies. This screen obsession also raises flags about social skills and attention spans in school settings. Parents and teachers are pretty vocal about these issues; many parents worry about their kids using computers for things other than learning.
Intellectual darkness and the future of humanity
The future of knowledge itself could face the gravest consequences in this dystopian scenario. The democratization of knowledge promised by technology might give way to its corporatization and centralization. A few powerful entities could control access to vast knowledge repositories, leveraging proprietary algorithms to gatekeep information. Knowledge could become privatized, commodified, and weaponized, with critical discoveries, historical truths, and scientific advancements hidden behind paywalls or manipulated for corporate or political gain. In this world, intellectual exploration might no longer be a human right but a privilege reserved for elites.
Furthermore, the integrity of knowledge could be eroded entirely. As generative AI and deepfakes blur the lines between fact and fiction, humanity might lose its ability to trust any source of information. The very concept of objective knowledge could disintegrate, replaced by competing "realities" tailored to individual preferences or agendas. Without a shared epistemological foundation, collective problem-solving and global cooperation could collapse. Humanity might retreat into intellectual isolation, each person or group trapped within their algorithmically curated "truths," incapable of engaging with alternative perspectives or building common understanding.
Autistic sensitization of western individual and the war against the self
This work explores the profound impact of cybercapitalism on human behavior, emotional regulation, and societal norms, arguing that the pervasive digital environment fosters hypersensitivity akin to autistic traits, such as heightened emotional reactivity, hyperfocus, and social navigation challenges. Unlike the neurodevelopmental origins of autism spectrum conditions, this hypersensitivity emerges from the external pressures of algorithmic manipulation, performance-driven metrics, and hyper-individualistic ideologies inherent in cybercapitalist systems. By examining these dynamics, the work situates the commodification of emotional reactivity as a central mechanism driving cycles of consumption, burnout, and self-alienation.
The paths followed in this exploration are diverse and interconnected. First, it draws on interdisciplinary perspectives, including neurobiology, psychology, and cultural analysis, to unpack the mechanisms underlying this hypersensitivity. Second, it integrates critiques from thinkers such as Laurent Alexandre and Christopher Wylie, who highlight how technological systems intentionally cultivate traits that sustain engagement and profitability. Third, it leverages metaphors such as Poenaru’s depiction of the West as an autoimmune disease to frame the psycho-immunological dynamics of self-fragmentation. Finally, the work proposes actionable alternatives, advocating for a shift from the self-centered values perpetuated by cybercapitalism toward solidarity, collective care, and the ethical design of digital platforms.
Adolescent Mental Health in the Digital Age: Linking the CATS Study Findings to the Neurocognitive and Emotional Impact of Screentime, Social Media, and Sociocultural Pressures
The alarming findings from the Child to Adult Transition Study (CATS), published in The Lancet article titled "Tracking the course of depressive and anxiety symptoms across adolescence: a population-based cohort study in Australia," shed light on the pervasive mental health challenges faced by adolescents. According to the study, nearly three-quarters (74%) of adolescents experience clinically significant symptoms of common mental disorders (CMDs) such as depression and anxiety during adolescence. These symptoms often take a chronic course, with over half of those affected reporting persistent symptoms over multiple years.
Brain Rot or the cognitive impact of the digital age
The Oxford University Press's selection of "brain rot" as the Word of the Year for 2024 is a poignant reflection of contemporary societal concerns regarding the pervasive influence of digital media on cognitive health. Defined as the deterioration of mental or intellectual faculties due to excessive consumption of trivial or unchallenging online content, the term encapsulates the anxieties surrounding the omnipresence of superficial digital stimuli.
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When Algorithms Decide: How Digital Power is Winning Elections Over People
The Romanian case is not an isolated incident but rather a symptom of a broader transformation in how societies process information and make collective decisions. Social media platforms have fundamentally altered the way information is disseminated and consumed, often outpacing the ability of regulatory frameworks to keep up. The pervasive reach of these platforms, combined with their capacity for micro-targeting and content personalization, allows them to exert influence on a scale that is both global and deeply individualized. This power is not merely technological; it has profound political, economic, and psychological implications. The Romanian election is a vivid example of how these dynamics can be exploited, with external actors leveraging algorithmic systems to manipulate public opinion and disrupt electoral processes.
BAD IS BETTER. The paradox of negative stimuli preference and its exploitation for the spread of the digital pandemic
Our cognitive processes inherently prioritize the processing of negative stimuli (Baumeister, 2001; Soroka, Fournier, & Nir 2019), a fact that has not gone unnoticed by the media, particularly social networks. This predisposition, known as the negativity bias, means that humans are more likely to focus on and remember negative information over positive or neutral information. Evolutionarily, this bias may have helped humans survive by making them more alert to dangers and threats. However, in the modern context of constant digital media consumption, this bias can have detrimental effects (Garrett, 2009; Martínez-Cortés & Núñez-Gómez, 2020; Sunstein, 2017; Bessi & Ferrara, 2016; Guess, Nyhan, & Reifler 2018).
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Whether you are an academic, journalist, practitioner, or simply a curious individual seeking to make sense of the forces shaping the modern world, E.U.LABORATORY offers an inclusive platform for inquiry and exchange. By uncovering the unseen dynamics of cybercapitalism, the platform inspires critical awareness and collective agency, encouraging transformative solutions to the challenges of our time.
ANNUAL PUBLICATION INITIATIVE: CURATING CRITICAL REFLECTIONS
In its commitment to fostering rigorous interdisciplinary inquiry and making cutting-edge research accessible to a broader audience, E.U.LABORATORY is proud to launch an annual publication initiative. This project will result in the publication of a book each year, compiling a selection of the most insightful and thought-provoking articles contributed to the platform. By consolidating these works into a single volume, E.U.LABORATORY seeks to deepen the global dialogue on cybercapitalism, mental health, and the economic unconscious, offering readers a comprehensive resource that captures the evolving landscape of these critical issues.