The Collapse of Digital Defences: A Terror Management Approach to Patricia Lockwood’s No One Is Talking About This

Abstract

Patricia Lockwood’s No One Is Talking About This (2021) is her debut novel that exhibits the mental strain of existing in a social media encapsulated world, overloaded with crisis. Attributing the core ideas of Terror Management Theory (TMT), this study examines the novel’s portrayal of how continuous exposure to collective mortality salience in virtual platform leads to emotional stagnation and ironic detachment. The protagonist initially navigates the hyper-connected reality by immersing in doomscrolling and participating in meme culture, as a coping strategy against existential threat. In contrast, as the plots moves, the narrative shifts when she faces relational mortality salience realizing her niece’s terminal condition. The experience of personal loss acts as a barrier for her defence mechanisms, dismantling the protective layer of digital detachment. Studying this transition, the paper explores the psychological sequence of events and responses involved when mediated defences collapse under the weight of personal grief, positioning the novel as a reflection of modern existential anxiety in the context of digital culture.