Depression and Psychosis- Perspectives on the Body, Enactivism, and Psychotherapy
Adrian Spremberg
University Library Heidelberg May 28, 2018 DOI: 10.11588/icp.2018.1.48067 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Depression |
| Citations | 2 |
| Key points | Argues that the 'enactive' approach to cognition offers a more heuristic framework for understanding depression and schizophrenia as disorders spanning three interwoven dimensions: subjectivity, the body/organismic domain, and the world. The author contends that the two disorders differ in how the person 'enactively' engages with the world, with schizophrenia typically involving a fragmented sense of 'self' and depression often involving significant difficulties relating to others and the world. |
Abstract
This article will discuss how the ‘enactive’ approach to cognition and psychological processes can help further clarifying and developing a more heuristic framework for the understanding of severe mental disorders, in this case, depression and schizophrenia. Furthermore, enactivismwill serve as a framework that comprehends depressions and schizophrenia as disorders that encompass three dimensions of human life: subjectivity (experiential domain), the body and the organismic domain, as well as the world (sociality, etc.). All three are intrinsically interwoven and consider processes, which are mental and/or cognitive to be in constant interconnection, since it is by means of this complex and auto-regulatory system that the direct meaningful connection with the world is made. I argue, however, that while all three components must be considered in severe disorders such as depression or schizophrenia, it remains paramount to maintain that there seem to be several differences in the way the schizophrenic or depressive person ‘enactively’ engages with the world and others, or not. For instance, while subjects with schizophrenia usually have a fragmented feeling of ‘self’, person with depression often have significant difficulties relating to others, and the world. This also depends on the severity in which the other processes have been affected, or not.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on depression, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Psilocybin-assisted therapy of major depressive disorder using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy as a therapeutic frame | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Yale Manual for Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy of Depression (using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy as a Therapeutic Frame) | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Neuroinflammation and neuroprogression in depression: Effects of alternative drug treatments | 2022 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Improving cognitive functioning in major depressive disorder with psychedelics: A dimensional approach | 2021 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 3
- Self-disturbance and schizophrenia: structure, specificity, pathogenesis (Current issues, New directions). Schizophrenia Research 2014
- Making Sense of Sense-Making: Reflections on Enactive and Extended Mind Theories March 1, 2009
- Schizophrenia, consciousness, and the self. Schizophrenia Bulletin 2003