Dialectics of Depression in Mourning

Many know the Father of Psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, but not many know it’s Mother - Melanie Klein.

Melanie Klein was a pioneer in psychoanalytic theory and established the field of object relations theory. She is known for her work in inventing play therapy to study infant development and her theory of the depressive position and mourning.

According to Klein, in the early stages of development, an infant experiences the world through splitting - idealizing and demonizing primary caregivers. However, as the infant grows, they begin to integrate the good and bad aspects of these objects to form a whole. This process is known as the depressive position.

The depressive position is a pivotal moment in development where the infant learns to cope with the ambivalence of loving and hating primary caregivers. It involves the ability to mourn the loss of an idealized object and move towards a more realistic perception of the object. Klein viewed mourning as an ongoing process in which individuals confront and work through the anxiety created by the loss of objects.

Klein's work on mourning has significant implications for understanding psychological distress. Failure to progress through the depressive position can result in pathological mourning and lead to depression and anxiety. The ability to mourn is essential in building resilience and the capacity to move forward after experiencing loss.

In summary, Melanie Klein's work on mourning and the depressive position revolutionized psychoanalytic theory in that it created a dialectics of depression. When there is a duality of good and bad feelings to overcome this split, is the process of dialectics which is to embrace the bad option not the good feelings. In other words if we work to not avoid depression, rather, go right into it, then maybe we can see that some of the bad we have projected into our primary caregivers and also internalized some their badness within ourselves. Mourning for Melanie means to integrate good and bad aspects of significant others in early development and the ability to mourn and face anxiety in the loss of an object, especially when they are lost at death. Understanding these concepts can assist in developing appropriate therapeutic interventions for those experiencing pathological mourning or depression.

• *please take depressed feelings seriously. If you or someone you know has thoughts of harming yourself or others please turn to help. Call or text 988 to reach the National suicide hotline.