☞「心の丸窓」は心の杜の医師・心理師による心の診療に関するコラムです。

Round window of the mind isthe column about mental therapy written by doctors of Kokoronomori Shinjuku Clinic.

　When one gets depressed, we may hypothesize that one has
lost something, which can not only be an actual thing or person, such as his
close family, but also honor, position, hope, self-esteem, etc., anything he
felt important. This might be a part of normal reaction. However, sometime one
can be suffered from “Depression”, which continues for abnormally
long and one cannot recover from it without other’s help.

　How is this caused? One of the explanations might be
following. For example, if you lost your mother, of course you know your mother
no longer exists, but you may not be able to accept the reality deeply in your
mind (unconsciously). You might be angry with her who left you with pain. But
you cannot allow yourself to feel this anger, because, how you can blame your
dead mother, whom you loved most, about dying? Then, this anger would remain
unprocessed in your deep unconscious, and prevent you to mourn your mother
properly. Thus your “Depression” is preserved.

　This is a part of what Freud said about Depression (he
used the word Melancholia), roughly 100 years ago. But I think this is still
relevant and useful to understand Depression.

（Gugan）