Phenomenology of Depression

This paper argues that duality accounts of time, as exemplified by Henri Bergson’s, Edmund Husserl’s and John McTaggart’s ideas, parallel the decomposition of temporal
experience in depressive psychosis into objective and subjective dimensions of time. The paper also proposes to comprehend the full-fledged depressive temporal delusion, in whichthe subjective flow of time comes to a standstill via the idea of a double orientation toreality characteristic of schizophrenic delusions. In the depressive temporal delusion a person claims that time is not moving while simultaneously her cognitive orientation intemporal surroundings remains largely unaffected, and hence the double orientation. The juxtaposition of temporal experience in depression with the temporal disorientation indementia enables to situate the depressive delusion regarding the flow of time in the middleof a proposed scale of the disintegration of normal temporal experience

Objectives. This article presents a detailed idiographic analysis of patients' experience of first-episode depression. Design. This is a qualitative interview study using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Methods. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with a purposive sample of seven patients presenting to a mental health service in London, UK with symptoms of first-episode major depression. There were four males and three females; mean age was 44 years. Interviews were audio-recorded and subjected to IPA. Results. Participants described a significant loss event prior to onset of depression. The depression involved a major diminishing of the life-world with relational, corporeal, and temporal depletion. This depletion was accompanied in each case by occasional extreme emotions, frenzied thoughts, confused sense of self. Conclusions. Depression can represent a major existential threat to the sufferer. We discuss how our findings can illuminate the extant literature. The study suggests the value of exploring these existential features in early therapy. Practitioner points Offers a detailed phenomenological analysis of core experiential features of first episode depression: being alone, being empty, life is over. Also reveals an unstable dynamic of major psychological depletion interrupted by emotional and cognitive agitation involving confusion, lack of confidence, and/or trust. Provides rationale and material for intensive exploration of these features in therapy. As a first step in describing and conceptualizing depression, texts in psychology often present a standard list of common features (see, e.g., Hammen & Watkins, 2008). Depression is said to involve feelings of sadness, of being 'empty', and loss of interest. There are negative cognitions concerning the self, the world, and the future, and there may be a sense of hopelessness. Sometimes there are distortions in thinking or difficulties in concentration. Sufferers may show behaviours of withdrawal from others and former