Lindblom discusses several diagnoses with the aim of “providing examples of how society affects our well, being and makes it difficult for us to live in a judicious manner” (2023, 31). Lindblom includes “objectification/alienation, the breakdown of norms/disorientation, efficiency/stress and loss of meaning, inequality/powerlessness, consumerism/discontent, and superficial interaction/indifference and fragmentation” (2023, 31). Lindblom writes that the aim is not to “present a comprehensive catalog” (2023, 31). This section attempts to provide precisely such a more comprehensive catalog of sociological diagnoses. This is done using Aristotelian balance theory as a framework (Berglund, 2026). This creates a certain order among the multitude of diagnoses that can be made. In this heuristic catalog of diagnoses, most will be addressed briefly, while a few will be explored in greater depth.
There is merit in keeping the number of diagnoses quantitatively low, as Lindblom does, to ensure clarity. Here, however, the choice is made to include various similar diagnoses that nonetheless capture nuances of experiences and conditions. However, the framework presented by ABT (Berglund, 2026) provides structure and context for the complexity and diversity of sociological diagnoses that can be incorporated, thereby increasing their generalizability. This makes it easier to discuss sociological conditions by identifying similarities in how different thinkers have formulated their various diagnoses of the present.
These diagnoses should be viewed as heuristics, cultural technologies, tools, sensitizing concepts, and support for constructing a sociologically grounded formulation of the difficulties one faces. Furthermore, they are often quite humorous compared to psychiatric diagnoses. Some examples include functional stupidity (Alvesson & Spicer, 2016), atomized (Lipset, 1963), shitty life syndrome (Jacoby, 1996), zombified (Ryan, 2012), alienation (Rosa, 2019), a blasé attitude (Simmel, 1971), disenchantment (Weber, 2001), compassion fatigue (Mestrovic, 1996), consumed by passions / desire fatigue (Sennett, 2002, Durkheim, 1950; Mestrovic, 1996), pseudo, communication (Illouz, 2008; Reisman, 1950), trivialized (Lefebvre, 1991), the happy robots (Mills, 1959), depressive hedonism (Fisher, 2011), enlightened false consciousness (Sloterdijk, 1984), medicalized (Conrad, 2007), one-dimensional thinking (Marcuse, 1964), manipulative personality (Adorno & Horkheimer, 2002, Jackall, 2010), colonized by the system world (Habermas, 1984), mediocritized (Deneault, 2018; Berglund, 2026), low emotional energy and out of rhythm (Collins, 2004), emotional dissonance (Hochschild, 2003), outsourced self (Hochschild, 2012), privatized and intimized (Sennett, 2002), lifestylified (Berglund, 2026), temporal followership (Berglund, 2026), dumbed, down citizenship (Berglund, 2026), spectacularized (Postman, 1984), technologized (Postman, 1991), hobbyfied (Berglund, 2026), infantilized (Barber, 2007, Nieman, 2013), cruel optimism (Berlant, 2011), militant fragility (Szetela, 2025), the uncooperative self (Sennett, 2013), elitified (Berglund, 2026), etc.
A sociological diagnosis can be viewed in terms of its symptoms and etiology, just like psychiatric diagnoses. I will give two examples: low emotional energy and being out of rhythm (Collins, 2004), as well as what might be called “status survivalism” (Hiltunen, 2017).
Low emotional energy and being out of rhythm (Collins, 2004)
Diagnostic criteria: low energy level, low momentum, low subjective well, being, passivity, frustration
Etiology: failed social interactions (Collins, 2004), nothing to be proud of, inequality, discrimination, marginalization, lack of recognition, atomization through various technologies such as computers or cell phones, atomization through infrastructure such as individualized housing and car culture, post, social socialities.
Status Survivalism (Hiltunen, 2017)
Diagnostic criteria: Focus on status; the desire to be “just perfect enough”; stress; self, centeredness; self, esteem linked to a personal struggle rather than a civic struggle (Berglund, 2026); identity fundamentalism (Moehller & D’Ambriaso, 2021); lack of social support, lack of a sense of coherence (Antonovsky, 1979; Hiltunen, 2017).
Etiology: care deficit, the tyranny of perfectionism (Hiltunen, 2017), false awareness of alternatives beyond the status struggle, lack of buffer zones (Hiltunen, 2017), consumerism and cell phone use (Hiltunen, 2017), discrimination based on appearance and personality (Collins, 2004).