Sadness, Depression, and the Dark Night of the Soul: Transcending the Medicalisation of Sadness

Author:   Glòria Durà-Vilà ,  Roland Littlewood
Publisher:   Jessica Kingsley Publishers
ISBN:  

9781785920561


Pages:   360
Publication Date:   19 January 2017
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
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Sadness, Depression, and the Dark Night of the Soul: Transcending the Medicalisation of Sadness


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Overview

Revealing a tension between the medical model of depression and the very different language of theology, this book explores how religious people and communities understand severe sadness, their coping mechanisms and their help-seeking behaviours. Drawing from her study of practicing Catholics, contemplative monks and nuns, priests and laypeople studying theology, the author describes how symptoms that might otherwise be described as pathological and meet diagnostic criteria for a depressive disorder are considered by some religious individuals to be normal and valued experiences. She explains how sadness fits into the 'Dark Night of the Soul' narrative - an active transformation of emotional distress into an essential ingredient for self-reflection and spiritual growth - and how sadness with a recognised cause is seen to 'make sense', whereas sadness without a cause may be seen to warrant psychiatric consultation. The author also discusses the role of the clergy in cases of sadness and depression and their collaboration with medical professionals. This is an insightful read for anyone with an interest in theology or mental health, including clergy, psychiatrists and psychologists.

Full Product Details

Author:   Glòria Durà-Vilà ,  Roland Littlewood
Publisher:   Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Imprint:   Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 2.10cm , Length: 22.80cm
Weight:   0.528kg
ISBN:  

9781785920561


ISBN 10:   1785920561
Pages:   360
Publication Date:   19 January 2017
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments. Foreword. Preface. Part I. Setting the literary and historical contexts. 1. Depression and the medicalization of sadness: conceptualisation and help-seeking. 2. The role of the clergy in the management of sadness and depression, and their collaboration with mental health professionals. 3. Sketches on the Catholic Church and monasticism. Part II. Unfolding the narratives of sadness and spiritual growth. 4. The participants and their ways of life. 5. Conceptualisation of sadness, depression and the Dark Night of the Soul. 6. Coping and help-seeking for sadness and depression. 7. The role of the clergy in the care of sadness and depression, and their collaboration with mental health professionals. Part III. Stepping beyond the monastries' and parishes' walls. 8. The medicalization of sadness and the Dark Night of the Soul. 9. Religious coping with sadness and depression. 10. The clergy's role in assisting those suffering from sadness and depression. 11. A framework to differentiate normal sadness from depression. References. Appendix 1. Ethical Considerations. Appendix 2. Limitations of the study. Appendix 3. Finding the questions to get the answers. Appendix 4. List of tables and figures. Appendix 5. Summary of findings: main themes and sub-themes extracted from the participants' interviews.

Reviews

This is a truly ground breaking publication. By bringing together insights from psychiatry and spirituality Dr Gloria Dura-Vila has provided an exceptionally helpful guidebook for all involved in helping people in situations of personal distress, sadness and trauma. -- Professor Bernadette Flanagan, author of 'Embracing Solitude' A balanced account of one of the most unbalanced topics in cultural psychiatry, psychiatric anthropology, and religious studies. An important study for inclusion in courses on religion and medicine, and an empirical provocation to psychiatry, anthropology and religious studies to reconsider what it means to struggle, endure, succumb, and overcome a ubiquitous form of human misery. -- Professor Arthur Kleinman, Department of Social Medicine, Harvard University, author of 'Rethinking Psychiatry: From Cultural Category to Personal Experience' This book deepens our understanding of the complex distinction between normal sadness and depressive disorder. Through a penetrating study of Catholic help-seekers in Spain the author clearly illuminates the ways that individuals interpret their distress and take various kinds of actions to relieve it. This book makes an important contribution to knowledge not just about depression but also about the process of medicalization more generally. -- Professor Allan Horwitz, Department of Sociology, Rutgers University, author of 'The Loss of Sadness: How Psychiatry Transformed Normal Sorrow into Depressive Disorder'


This is a truly ground breaking publication. By bringing together insights from psychiatry and spirituality Dr Gloria Dura-Vila has provided an exceptionally helpful guidebook for all involved in helping people in situations of personal distress, sadness and trauma. -- Professor Bernadette Flanagan, author of 'Embracing Solitude' A balanced account of one of the most unbalanced topics in cultural psychiatry, psychiatric anthropology, and religious studies. An important study for inclusion in courses on religion and medicine, and an empirical provocation to psychiatry, anthropology and religious studies to reconsider what it means to struggle, endure, succumb, and overcome a ubiquitous form of human misery. -- Professor Arthur Kleinman, Department of Social Medicine, Harvard University, author of 'Rethinking Psychiatry: From Cultural Category to Personal Experience' This book deepens our understanding of the complex distinction between normal sadness and depressive disorder. Through a penetrating study of Catholic help-seekers in Spain the author clearly illuminates the ways that individuals interpret their distress and take various kinds of actions to relieve it. This book makes an important contribution to knowledge not just about depression but also about the process of medicalization more generally. -- Professor Allan Horwitz, Department of Sociology, Rutgers University, author of 'The Loss of Sadness: How Psychiatry Transformed Normal Sorrow into Depressive Disorder' We need a much better understanding of, and antidote to, the all-pervasive but often pointless medicalisation of human sadness and anxiety. This book engages with this problem from a fresh vantage point - that of men and women living a secluded religious life who not only make sense of psychological torment but face it head on, accommodating and transforming it as a kind of spiritual alchemy. Based on rich ethnographic research, Gloria Dura-Vila explores the spiritual conceptualisation of human angst and loneliness with insightful compassion. In doing so, she permits us a unique and revealing account of dwindling religious communities that will stimulate anyone interested in the human condition. -- Professor Gerard Leavey, Director of the Bamford Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing, Ulster University In this substantial study, Gloria Dura-Vila has stepped boldly into the conflict between sacred and secular understandings of sadness, and revealed it to be a remarkably interesting, important and fertile area of study. The book presents detailed and careful research which not only shines light into contemporary and traditional experiences of darkness and depression, but also into the often murky ways that religious and medical professionals think about each other. The work is certainly illuminating; it deserves to be influential. -- Dr Stephen Cherry, Dean of King's College, Cambridge, author of 'Barefoot Disciple', 'Beyond Busyness: Time Wisdom for Ministry' and 'Healing Agony' Dura-Vila's rich ethnography of spiritual sadness is as haunting as it is beautiful. By giving us intimate glimpses into participants' spiritual lives, this work illuminates how, for some, sadness can become a source of deep reflection, and even grace, as well as what is potentially lost when medicalization strips sadness of its resonant meanings. Deftly and sympathetically weaving together spiritual and biomedical perspectives, this is a must-read book for anyone interested in depression, spirituality, and how institutions like religion and psychiatry shape our inner worlds. -- Professor Rebecca Lester, Department of Anthropology, Washington University, author of 'Jesus in Our Wombs: Embodying Modernity in a Mexican Convent' A novel book that tackles in a creative and original way, as well as being empirical, documented and rigorous, one of the great topics of today: the relationship between spirituality, religion and mental health in a globalised world in a state of deep transformation. This brilliant analysis highlights the differences among sadness, the Dark Night of the Soul and depressive disorders in a social framework with a strong tendency to medicalise human suffering. -- Professor Joseba Achotegui Loizate, Department of Psychiatry, University of Barcelona, Secretary of the World Psychiatric Association - Transcultural Psychiatry Section Lucid scholarship and sensitive ethnography situated in the ecclesiastical landscape of Spain provide grist for Dura-Vila's cultural critique of a psychiatric check-list approach to diagnosing depression devoid of context. Clearly written and engaging, the study explains strengths and limitations of medicalising and spiritualising normal sadness and pathological depression. As a timely study of challenging issues, it demonstrates the value of a cultural formulation of religious faith. The book is an important contribution to cultural psychiatry, psychological anthropology and religious thought. -- Professor Mitchell Weiss, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, University of Basel


Author Information

Dr Glòria Durà-Vila is a multi-award winning consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist, author, and lecturer. She works in private practice (psychiatryinlondon.co.uk) and in the Surrey and Borders NHS Trust where she is Medical Lead for ASD. Her passion for communicating the Autism diagnosis to children in a personalised way, one that captures their strengths and difficulties within the Autism Spectrum, is central to her writing and her academic and clinical work.

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