Psychotic Depression: Psychoanalytic Psychopathology in Relation to Treatment and Management

In an attempt to bridge the gap between somatic & psychological conceptions of depression & to show the value of single case studies in research, Jacobson’s psychoanalytic theory (1971) is applied to the assessment of & treatment planning for a 40 year old female patient who was severely depressed & suicidal for over 5 years. An awareness of analytic psychopathology can help make decisions on the feasibility of psychotherapy in depression instead of or as well as physical forms of treatment.