A Study of the Interaction Between Depressed Patients and Their Spouses

Abstract

This paper reports the initial analysis of a series of observations of a number of depressed patients communicating with their spouses and with a third party. This is part of a larger study which arose out of our dissatisfaction with the traditional ways of thinking about depressed patients. By and large there is general agreement about the people who are called ‘depressed’; there are constellations of symptoms and signs which can be evaluated by using one of the many rating scales for depression which have a degree of reliability and consistency. However, we feel that most of the thinking which underlies these efforts is based on presuppositions which would place ‘the depression’ within the patient, that is to say that there is something wrong within the patient which causes the symptoms and gives rise to the signs. These views are reductionist in character and we have by contrast attempted to reexamine certain aspects of depression using non-reductionist ideas.

“Speech After Long Silence”: The Use of Narrative Therapy in a Preventive Intervention for Children of Parents with Affective Disorder

“…Negative attributions about affective disorders have not only permeated common‐sense interpretations of affective illness, they have also been reflected in the professional, psychiatric literature. For example, depression has often been attributed to character pathology in psychoanalytic models (Grinker, 1964), or seen as a kind of manipulative maneuver in family systems and behavioral theories (Biglan, Hops, Sherman, et al, 1985; Hinchliffe, Hooper, Roberts, & Vaughn, 1975).…”

Characteristics of expressed emotion: Its relationship to speech and looking in schizophrenic patients and their relatives

“…Such 'standard' situations have their own drawbacks because they do not generate natural behaviour but have been used by a number of authors (e.g. Riskin & Faunce, 1970; Kreitman et al, 1971;Hinchliffe et al, 1975;Wild et al, 1977).…”

Costs of Treating Depression With Individual Versus Family Therapy

“…When one partner is depressed, couple interactions exhibit greater levels of negativity, hostility, tension, and control attempts (Hinchliffe, Hooper, Roberts & Vaughn, 1975). This type of dysfunction has a significant effect on the prognosis for depressed patients, decreasing both recovery rates and level of functioning as well as creating a significant risk of relapse (Keitner, Miller & Ryan, 2005;Whisman & Uebelacker, 2006).…”