Postpartum depression and symbiotic illusion.

Halberstadt-Freud, Hendrika C.

doi:10.1037/h0079467

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…An important additional factor in that instance was the woman's hatred of the baby's father. Halberstadt-Freud (1993) presented the thesis that “the woman's unresolved symbiotic illusion [italics original] with her mother plays a central role in postpartum depression. A few years later, Halberstadt-Freud (1998) reported the case of a different patient whose struggles were characterized by dependency and who, in the course of treatment, became aware of how much anger she had at her neglectful mother, whom she supported.…”

Section: Psychoanalytic Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Psychodynamics of postpartum depression.

Blum¹

2007

Psychoanalytic Psychology

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Although there are numerous articles and books about postpartum depression, few are psychoanalytically informed, and the psychodynamics of women suffering from postpartum depression are overlooked in most of these publications. Psychoanalytic reports concerning postpartum depression are few, but clinical experience and the literature suggest that a triad of three common, specific emotional conflicts is typical of many women who develop postpartum depression. For simplicity, these are dependency conflicts, anger conflicts, and motherhood conflicts. The dependency conflicts typically have a counterdependent form, the conflicts over anger characteristically include a great deal of guilt and inhibition, and there are often problematic identifications with the woman's own mother (and father) with associated conflicts about motherhood. The frequent counterdependent attitude tends to limit participation in extensive psychotherapy, contributing to the paucity of psychoanalytic contributions on this subject.

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Section: Psychoanalytic Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Psychodynamics of postpartum depression.

Blum¹

2007

Psychoanalytic Psychology

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“…THE MEDICAL MODEL OF POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION Although there are anthropological (e.g., Stern & Kruckman, 1983) and psychoanalytic (e.g., Blum, 1978;Halberstadt-Freud, 1993) perspectives on postpartum depression, the medical model is the dominant one in terms of academic, professional and lay understandings. Here, postpartum depression is conceptualized as a "disease" or "illness" and research efforts have been devoted to describing, predicting, preventing, and treating it (e.g., Cox & Holden, 1994).…”

Section: Perspectives On Postpartum Depressionmentioning

confidence: 99%

"Feeling low and feeling really bad about feeling low": Women's experiences of motherhood and postpartum depression.

Mauthner

1999

Canadian Psychology / Psychologie canadienne

140

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Two bodies of work on postpartum depression are reviewed. Quantitative, positivist studies examine the epidemiology and aetiology of postpartum depression, adopt a medical model of explanation and conceptualize postpartum depression as a pathological response to motherhood. Social scientific studies, some from a feminist perspective, explore women's experiences of postpartum depression predominantly, but not exclusively, within a qualitative tradition. Postpartum depression is theorized as a "normal" response to motherhood and is linked to "public-world" losses of identity, autonomy, independence, power, and paid employment. Drawing on a qualitative study of 40 women's experiences of motherhood, this article argues that not all women become depressed following childbirth and women's varying responses to motherhood need to be recognized. A relational re-framing of postpartum depression is put forward. From this perspective, postpartum depression occurs when women are unable to experience, express and validate their feelings and needs within supportive, accepting and non-judgmental interpersonal relationships and cultural contexts.

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“…A search of the psychoanalytic literature using the descriptive label of “postpartum depression” and related concepts (e.g., postpartum blues) indeed yields very few papers. The Psychoanalytic Electronic Publishing (PEP) database, for example, yields only two articles; a case study by Harold Blum (1978) and a theoretical paper with an illustrative clinical vignette by Halberstadt-Freud (1993).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Systematic empirical investigation of vulnerability to postpartum depression from a psychodynamic perspective: Commentary on issues raised by Blum (2007).

Besser¹,

Vliegen²,

Luyten³

2008

Psychoanalytic Psychology

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In a recent paper, Lawrence Blum (2007) identified emotional conflicts in three areas typical in postpartum depression: (1) dependency, (2) aggression, and (3) motherhood. In this commentary, the authors consider agreements and disagreements with Blum's views on the psychodynamics of postpartum depression. In contrast to Blum's assertion, a theoretically derived extensive empirical psychoanalytic database exists which confirms and extends Blum's analysis of the core dynamics involved in this disorder. This recent research derives primarily from the comprehensive theoretical framework proposed by Blatt (1974Blatt ( , 2004Blatt ( , 2006Blatt ( , 2008 on the psychodynamics of depression that are part of a broad theory of normal and pathological personality development which Blum (2007), in his otherwise thorough search of the literature, seems to have overlooked. The authors close with reflections on how psychoanalysis and psychodynamically inspired research might increasingly influence mainstream clinical practice and research.

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Postpartum depression and symbiotic illusion.

Cited by 7 publications

References 24 publications

Psychodynamics of postpartum depression.

Psychodynamics of postpartum depression.

"Feeling low and feeling really bad about feeling low": Women's experiences of motherhood and postpartum depression.

Systematic empirical investigation of vulnerability to postpartum depression from a psychodynamic perspective: Commentary on issues raised by Blum (2007).

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