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Meaning and Melancholia: Life in the Age of Bewilderment , by Christopher Bollas, Routledge, Abingdon and New York, 2018, 130 pp.

Meaning and Melancholia: Life in the Age of Bewilderment , by Christopher Bollas, Routledge,... The American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 2020, 80, (94–97) 2020 Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis 0002-9548/20 www.palgrave.com/journals Book Review Meaning and Melancholia: Life in the Age of Bewilderment, by Christopher Bollas, Routledge, Abingdon and New York, 2018, 130 pp. What kind of global selves are we becoming? This is the central question fervently posed by Christopher Bollas in his slim yet sweeping new book. Advances in industry and technology over the last two centuries have not only changed our modes of being in the world but also our forms of thought, degrading them in ways that propel our species toward extinction. We are in a psychosocial crisis, Bollas declares, one that demands prompt understanding of political psychology and the application of psychodynamics to large groups and nations. The urgent societal need for psychoanalytic awareness exists alongside what Bollas describes as a prevalent post-millennial anxiety – ‘‘psychophobia’’ – the cultural fear and hatred of self-reflection, the dread of exploring inner life (p. 128). The cultural corollaries to this psychic tendency are cognitive behavioral therapies, the widespread dependence on prescription drugs, and evidence-based health care systems. Result-oriented attitudes have replaced a more profound self-inquiry. How did we learn to recoil from http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The American Journal of Psychoanalysis Springer Journals

Meaning and Melancholia: Life in the Age of Bewilderment , by Christopher Bollas, Routledge, Abingdon and New York, 2018, 130 pp.

Castelloe, Molly
The American Journal of Psychoanalysis , Volume 80 (1): 4 – Mar 1, 2020
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Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
2020 Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis
ISSN
0002-9548
eISSN
1573-6741
DOI
10.1057/s11231-020-09236-0
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 2020, 80, (94–97) 2020 Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis 0002-9548/20 www.palgrave.com/journals Book Review Meaning and Melancholia: Life in the Age of Bewilderment, by Christopher Bollas, Routledge, Abingdon and New York, 2018, 130 pp. What kind of global selves are we becoming? This is the central question fervently posed by Christopher Bollas in his slim yet sweeping new book. Advances in industry and technology over the last two centuries have not only changed our modes of being in the world but also our forms of thought, degrading them in ways that propel our species toward extinction. We are in a psychosocial crisis, Bollas declares, one that demands prompt understanding of political psychology and the application of psychodynamics to large groups and nations. The urgent societal need for psychoanalytic awareness exists alongside what Bollas describes as a prevalent post-millennial anxiety – ‘‘psychophobia’’ – the cultural fear and hatred of self-reflection, the dread of exploring inner life (p. 128). The cultural corollaries to this psychic tendency are cognitive behavioral therapies, the widespread dependence on prescription drugs, and evidence-based health care systems. Result-oriented attitudes have replaced a more profound self-inquiry. How did we learn to recoil from

Journal

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis – Springer Journals

Published: Mar 1, 2020

Keywords: Clinical Psychology; Psychotherapy; Psychoanalysis

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