Psychodynamic explanation of depression

Proposed by Freud (1917)
1. Similarly to the behavioural approach, Freud believed that depression was related to loss in early childhood.
  1. He thought that there was a clear similarity between those suffering from depression and the response to death of a loved one, e.g. depressed mood, insomnia, social withdrawl, loss of appetite, etc.
  2. The process of getting depression starts in early childhood. Freud believed that during the oral stage in childhood, if we either experience over-gratification of under-gratification, it will result in loss
    1. Under-gratification and lack of love results in low self-esteem.
    2. Over-gratification and too much love causes the person to feel a constant need for it and they want it to carry on in adult life. However, the love received as a child is not forthcoming as they grow older.
    3. Either way, both types of gratification cause the person to try and compensate for this loss and so they become overly dependant on others for love, affection, self worth, and self esteem.
Freud also suggested that depression involves guilt and self-critisism.This can also be related to loss during early childhood.
1. We may direct anger and hostility towards our parents if they fail to give us the love and warmth we require for healthy development.
  1. However, these destructive feelings are turned inwards and the child blames themself rather than their parents for this loss of love, ending in guilt and self-critisism
  2. The child also starts becoming overly dependant on others which carries on into later life.
2. Loss of a loved one in adult life will resurface these childhood memories and experiences and remind us of the angry feelings we felt when we had not experience of love.
  1. This may cause the adult to blame the loved one for dying, similarly in the way that they blamed them for the loss love in childhood. This blame is internalised, leading to guilt and possibly depression.
  2. Freud accepted that people can get depression without suffering the loss of a loved one, or loss of love. He stated that this loss can be imagined, or symbolic. For example, we may feel that our parents won't love us unless we meet certain expectations. However, these expectations are imagined, and we don't actually have to fufill them to be loved. Nonetheless. we still feel unloved and therefore the process of depression still takes place.
    1. E.g. loss of a job is a symbolic loss, and still reminds us of losses in our childhood.
Freud stated that loss is like mourning. To stop loss turning into depression, we simply need to engage in a period of mourning.
Evaluation
1. (S) Evidence shows that depressives are overly dependent, more so than people without depression, and that depression is caused by loss.
2. (W) People with depression usually take their anger out on others, but this theory states the opposite- it states that we direct our anger inwardly, which isn't always the case.
3. (S) This theory has had a lot of influence on other theories, e.g. Becks cognitive theory that uses the idea of low self esteem in the cognitive triad and also emphasises loss and rejection in childhood.
4. (W) This theory lacks scientific evidence as it is difficult to prove scientifically
5. An important contribution of the approach is that is emphasises loss to the onset of depression, a common reason it occurs. It shows us that we need to focus on the cause of depression when treating it rather than just the symptoms, so we need to look back at loss in the individuals life.
  1. However, a counter to this strength is that the onset of depression starts in the 20.s , by which time very few people have experienced major loss. Moreover, Crook and Elliot major loss as a child does not predict adult depression.

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Psychodynamic explanation of depression

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