In his book The Globalization of Addiction, Bruce Alexander uses the term “dislocation” (which was coined by the political economist Karl Polanyi) to refer to the loss of “psychosocial integration.” Dislocation, he explains, is psychologically toxic and untenable. An individual will crack in any number of ways: disruptive behavior; extreme anxiety; withdrawal; school refusal; the beginnings of substance use; depression and thoughts of suicide; the development of an eating disorder; cutting; poor performance at work; loss of job; marital difficulties. The dismal list goes on.
