Depression and depth psychology

Abstract

This article addresses the differences reported by Freud between so-called normal (or physiological) grief and pathological grief, with a reference to the depressive concept, in which the object is not real but introjected. It then analyzes Klein's thinking, which explored the fear associated with the loss of the introjected object. According to these authors, there is also the possibility that certain traumatic conditions in adult life could cause the individual to relapse into childhood depression, exacerbating it. The Adlerian view, on the other hand, is diametrically opposed, conceiving the mother as a person capable of leaving a deep imprint on the mind of the newborn through the quality of her interactions. This article emphasizes how interactions between the individual and their surrounding environment can also become conflictual, thus causing individual suffering in some way