On the Dark Side of Chronic Depression

Psychoanalytic, Social-cultural and Research Approaches

Marianne Leuzinger-Bohleber, Gilles Ambresin, Tamara Fischmann, Mark Solms, Marianne Leuzinger-Bohleber, Gilles Ambresin, Tamara Fischmann, Mark Solms

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781000654813
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Abnormal Psychology
• Index: Psychology

This book brings together cutting-edge expertise from psychoanalysis, psychiatry, neuroscience and social science to shed light on the dark side of chronic depression.

Considering different forms of depression on a continuum, the book develops new diagnostical considerations on depression. It includes detailed case studies from clinical psychoanalytical practice, conceptual considerations and historical analyses to current empirical and neurobiological studies on depression. The book is unique in bridging a gap between Anglo-Saxon/German psychoanalysis and French traditions in relation to clinical treatment techniques and conceptualizations of depression and trauma. Chapters present new research on the social, biographical, genetic and neurobiological determinants of severe depressive disorder and explore how these can be differentiated and expanded in the face of new cultural realities as well of new findings particularly in modern neurosciences.

The book explores new understanding and discussion of treatment options for depression and will be essential reading for researchers and students in the field of depression and mental health research. It will also enrich the conceptual and clinical knowledge of psychoanalysts and psychotherapy researchers and students.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Endorsements
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of figures
• List of contributors
• Preface
• 1. Introduction: On the dark side: chronic depression and trauma – signatures of our time? Some societal, conceptual and methodological considerations
• 2. From acedia to melancholy: Sadness in the presence of God
• 3. The unpast core of depression
• 4. The invisible depression
• 5. The denied object of melancholy
• 6. The psychoanalysis of a chronically and severely depressed patient: Or “Don’t even think of coming close!”
• 7. “Switching the light off to cast the shadow away”
• 8. Getting out of the shadow of the object
• 9. Together in the magma of despair
• 10. The presence of God in a melancholic patient
• 11. Some aspects of early development and depression: The case of Thea, an adolescent
• 12. Early depressions: Loss of liveliness, withdrawal, psychosomatic issues and risk of developmental delay
• 13. Pluralism in psychoanalytic research: Conceptual framework of the MODE study
• 14. Memory re-consolidation and dreaming: Shadows of the night
• 15. Depression in neuropsychoanalysis: Why does depression feel bad?
• 16. Thoughts on the failure of intersubjective development following maternal–child trauma and loss
• 17. Containing darkness
• Index