Am J Psychiatry 1977; 134:427-429
Copyright © 1977 by American Psychiatric Association
Postpsychotic depression and the need for personal significance
BL Mackinnon
The author, who considers postpsychotic depression as a reaction to
psychosis, illustrates some of the dynamics involved in the development and
persistence of the state with letters from a patient. Among other dynamic
and psychotherapeutic considerations, the need for self- realization and
meaning in everyday life merits special emphasis in the treatment of those
for whom escape from psychosis has meant not only deliverance from terror,
but also a loss of grandeur and significance.
