The central phrase linking the coronavirus pandemic to the Black Lives Matter demonstrations to the climate change crisis is "I can't breathe." What, if anything, does psychoanalysis have to say about breathing? Looking at Freud, Ferenczi, Rank, Winnicott, Lacan, and some current philosophical thoughts, the authors consider a neglected "respiratory drive" and its relationship to the death drive, giving us new insight into this unprecedented moment.
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