The digital display case of being

Contemporary clinical practice confronts us with a new paradigm: the subject who has transformed their life into a continuous spectacle. We no longer encounter the former patient who hides their secrets under layers of repression, but one who compulsively exposes every facet of their existence. The act of living has merged with the act of showing, creating a new form of existence where experience isn't complete until it's shared, documented, and validated by the digital gaze.

Each meal becomes a carefully composed photograph, each thought an immediate post, each emotion a status update. This new subject has turned social networks into a public confessional where absolution comes in the form of "likes" and comments. Intimacy has been replaced by calculated exhibition, where every private moment transforms into content for an invisible but omnipresent audience.

The central paradox of this new subjectivity lies in its total dependence on the gaze of others. The individual exists only insofar as they are seen, recognized, and validated by others. Their sense of being is so intertwined with their audience's response that undocumented moments begin to feel like existential voids. The question "who am I?" has transformed into "how do they see me?", and the answer is always pending the next screen refresh.

From modesty to digital exhibitionism

The evolution of our society has produced a radical transformation in how we present ourselves to others. We have transitioned from a culture of modesty and reserve to one of constant and voluntary exposure. The old fear of revealing too much has been replaced by an almost compulsive drive to share every thought, every meal, every intimate moment. This new way of existing is not so much a liberation as it is a new form of captivity.

The need to be seen has created a modern paradox: the more we share, the less truly connected we feel. We publish our lives in real-time, exposing thoughts and emotions in search of connection and affection, but instead of cultivating deep friendships, we accumulate followers - passive spectators of our constant personal show. Quantity has replaced quality in our interactions, turning relationships into an exercise in digital arithmetic.

These new rituals of exposure act as substitutes for true intimacy. Like saccharin that imitates the sweetness of sugar without providing nutrition, our digital interactions momentarily stimulate but do not nourish the soul. The "likes" and superficial comments produce a flash of satisfaction that quickly fades, leaving us with a deeper hunger for authentic connection, real understanding, and true intimacy.

The spectator of one's own life

Contemporary clinical practice presents us with an increasingly common phenomenon: the individual who has ceased to be the protagonist of their own life narrative and has become a mere spectator. As if seated in the audience of their own play, they observe their life unfold through the digital screen, measuring their worth based on the response it generates in others. Direct experience has been replaced by its representation, and authenticity has dissolved in the constant pursuit of virtual approval.

This displacement of the existential center of gravity, from the internal to the external, has generated a new form of emptiness. The contemporary subject finds themselves trapped in a cycle of emotional dependency where each action, each moment, each experience needs to be validated by the gaze of others to feel real. The absence of "likes" or comments translates into a sensation of nonexistence, as if reality itself depended on its confirmation in the digital mirror of social networks.

The deepest consequence of this dynamic is the progressive loss of personal agency. The individual has surrendered the helm of their existence to an invisible but omnipresent audience, whose approval has become more important than lived experience itself. Moments of joy, sadness, or reflection don't feel complete until they are shared and validated, creating a form of existential paralysis where life is always experienced in delay, always through the filter of the other's gaze.