Affectivity and narrativity in depression: a phenomenological study.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Phenomenology
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Depression is often characterized by emotional disturbances.
• Phenomenological studies link depression to disruptions in narrative self-understanding.
• Existing accounts suggest a connection between mood alterations and self-narrative changes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the relationship between affectivity and narrative self-understanding in depression from a phenomenological viewpoint.
• To expand on existing phenomenological accounts of depression and self-narrative.
• To investigate how emotional changes in depression impact the structure and content of personal stories.

Main Methods:

• Phenomenological analysis of the lived experience of depression.
• Examination of the impact of affectivity on autobiographical narrative construction.
• Exploration of how altered emotional states shape new self-narratives.

Main Results:

• Depression leads to a loss of affect, altering or weakening pre-illness autobiographical narratives.
• New self-narratives emerge in depression, characterized by specific affective configurations.
• These new narratives are influenced by existential feelings (guilt, hopelessness, isolation) and altered temporal/spatial experiences.

Conclusions:

• Affectivity plays a crucial role in shaping narrative self-understanding in depression.
• The loss of feeling in depression necessitates the replacement of old self-narratives with new, affectively charged ones.
• Understanding these narrative shifts offers insight into the subjective experience of depression.