The mourning process and its importance in mental illness: a psychoanalytic understanding of psychiatric diagnosis and classification

  • Gibbons R
2Citations
Citations of this article
13Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

Abstract

This article brings together the psychiatric and psychoanalytic views of mental illness to deepen the understanding of mental disorder. The intention is to bring to the fore the importance of loss and mourning in clinical practice. Looking for the loss event that underpins the disorder helps determine therapeutic treatment options and increases the chance of authentic therapeutic engagement and recovery. The article summarises theory about the mourning process and discusses the relationship of loss and pathological mourning to mental illness. Fictitious case vignettes developed from years in psychiatric practice are used to illustrate how this relates to clinical practice and formulation.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Gibbons, R. (2024). The mourning process and its importance in mental illness: a psychoanalytic understanding of psychiatric diagnosis and classification. BJPsych Advances, 30(2), 80–88. https://doi.org/10.1192/bja.2023.8

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free