Psychodynamic explanation of depression

Underlying assumptions Unconscious forces Early childhood experiences When dealing with a loss Mourning turns to melancholia

Freud’s original theory Seed of depression in ‘oral stage’ Overstimulation leads to dependence on others for self-esteem The dependent personality style is vulnerable to depression. Time and energy spent seeking approval of others Angry when ignored or overlooked. Anger turned inwards. All of this is unconscious

Freud’s theory continued If person is lost (bereavement) or withdraws affection, there is: Anger which is turned inward because Such anger is unacceptable to the superego There may be regression to the oral stage (ego defence).

Freud’s theory cont. We hate the ones we love This hatred is unacceptable to the superego. Therefore it is pushed in the unconscious i.e. Turned in on ourselves. This becomes a problem if the person dies (guilt).

More psychodynamic theories Bibring (1965) Harsh, critical, perfectionist parenting brings about Low self-esteem. The child fails to live up to the ideal ‘self’.

Evaluation Evidence for low self- esteem accompanying depression. Also evidence for link with low self-esteem and critical and harsh parenting. (Blatt and Zuroff, 1992)

Bifulco et al. (1987) found evidence that people who were depressed often have lost a parent. However, not all depressed people have lost a parent and Some children who lose a parent do not go on to become depressed.

More evidence Some studies have shown that depressed people show more anger than controls who are not experiencing depression, but This is overt anger rather than anger turned inwards.

Unscientific Freud’s theory is impossible to verify or falsify. Used idiographic methods (case studies) Poor population validity – middle class, middle-aged, Viennese women not representative of the population. Nature of theory (repression) – if client has no memory of something traumatic, it can be suggested they have simply repressed it in to their unconscious mind. This makes it irrefutable.

Having said that There are a lot of very feasible aspects to Freud’s theory: It stresses the importance of early experience A vulnerability to depression being greater in some than in others. These ideas are also central to cognitive theories.