O conceito freudiano de melancolia e sua articulação clínica com o sentimento de culpa

Abstract

The sense of guilt, a concept that Freud associated with all neurosis to a lesser or a greater extent, is found as a prominent characteristic of melancholy. Based on a clinical case treated at the Serviço de Psicologia Aplicada (SPA) at UFMG, for which a diagnosis of melancholy was considered as a hypothesis, we investigated whether the sense of guilt plays a central role on the clinic of melancholy. In order to do so, we adopted some concepts of Freuds metapsychology to establish a clinical relationship between guilt and melancholy. Firstly, we discussed the Freudian theories concerning melancholy, resorting to the concepts of narcissism and identification to help us understand the issue. Secondly, we analyzed Freuds notion of guilt. To that end, we examined the development of the notion of death instincts, and the elaboration of a new structure of the mental apparatus, which led to the introduction of the concept of superego. Such notions allowed Freud to propose in 1924 that the melancholy, as a narcissistic neurosis, is characterized as a conflict between the ego and the superego. From this latter Freudian concept regarding melancholy, we pointed out some specificities of the analitical tecnique of this narcissistic neurosis, seeking to highlight the role the sense of guilt plays on the clinical treatment context.