The Self-Help Hell or Encyclopedia of Schizoterica

The book examines a phenomenon the author describes with the term “schizoterica,” referring to the industry of positive thinking, affirmations, vision boards, the law of attraction, and syncretic pseudo spiritual practices. Separate chapters focus on the clinical dimension of the phenomenon, ranging from asthenia and neurasthenia to obsessive compulsive symptoms, paranoid syndromes, and bipolar disorder. The text also explores the financial mindset commonly associated with schizoterica, typical pseudo business models such as MLM schemes, forex speculation, and financial pyramids, as well as the ways these ideas spread through social media, training programs, and personal environments. The section addressing psychiatric aspects was co written with Dmitriy Korshevnyuk, PhD.

Written as a polemical work of cultural criticism from the perspective of a practicing hypnotherapist, the book is intended for readers who have encountered the “magical self development” industry personally or through people close to them, as well as for specialists working with the psychological consequences of such influences. It is based on twenty years of clinical experience and long term observation of how dependency on schizoteric ideologies develops.