Grief in two guises: ‘Mourning and melancholia’ revisited

Abstract

¹ This paper is a re-reading of Freud’s classic paper. The themes of mourning and melancholia are viewed in relation to children and adolescents with illustrations from case histories. Mourning is interpreted in a broader sense: not only as grief (both expectable and traumatic) but as a response to the developmental process itself as phases of childhood are shed and an emerging newer identity is assumed. The author argues that Freud’s paper left the way open to make a number of further distinctions of the processes involved within melancholia.

Keywords:

• mourning
• melancholia
• loss
• grief
• developmental change
• adolescence

Notes

1. A version of this paper was given at the Institute of Psychoanalysis Conference: ‘Mourning and Melancholia through the Life Cycle’, London, 1998.

2. An earlier version of Donald’s case history was previously published by Green (1998).

3. An earlier version of this adolescent’s treatment was previously published by Green (1990).