The Cruelty Of Depression

by Jacques Hassoun

Melancholy, which came to be known as depression only in the twentieth century, continues to occupy a central place in psychoanalytic theory.The distinguished French psychoanalyst Jacques Hassoun offers here a brief but far-reaching treatise on the true nature and origins of depression, arguing that it is a matter of temperament, not a disease to by cured by Prozac or other drugs. Hassoun asserts that depression and all addictions are rooted in the same a disruption in the weaning of the child from the mother that results in a profound sadness and an inability to experience loss. This disruption affects every aspect of the melancholic's life, and is at the core of his damaged existence.Hassoun believes that depression may be cured only by understanding the roots of the malady in early childhood. He analyzes the causes and manifestations of depression—using moving case studies from his own practice, literary examples (from Melville and Kafka, among others), and a framework based on the theory of the influential French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan—to illustrate the melancholic's inability to grieve. Hassoun reinterprets Lacanian Theory to make it both more accessible and anecdotal, and he offers evidence that enlightened psychotherapy can treat the melancholic's agonizing condition.At once incisive and deeply personal, The Cruelty of Depression brings a sense of new possibilities fro relief from depressive suffering. It is an important and provocative addition to the growing debate on the treatment of depression.

Genres: Psychology

144 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1997

About the author

Jacques Hassoun was a French psychologist and proponent of the ideas of Jacques Lacan. Hassoun developed a theory of depression and, in his later years, wrote a history of Egyptian Jews, Histoire des Juifs du Nil (Minerve, 1990).
Hassoun was born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1936 and settled in France in 1954 to pursue his studies; he ultimately remained there. He died from a brain tumor at age 63, in Paris.