What do you think?
Rate this book
Experiences of Depression: A Study in Phenomenology
Experiences of Depression is a philosophical exploration of what it is like to be depressed. In this important new book, Matthew Ratcliffe develops a detailed account of depression experiences by drawing on work in phenomenology, philosophy of mind, and several other disciplines. In so doing, he makes clear how phenomenological research can contribute to psychiatry, by helping us to better understand patients' experiences, as well as informing classification, diagnosis, and treatment.
Throughout the book, Ratcliffe also emphasizes the relevance of depression to philosophical enquiry. He proposes that, by reflecting on how experiences of depression differ from 'healthy' forms of experience, we can refine our understanding of both. Hence phenomenological research of this kind has much wider applicability. He further shows how the study of depression experiences can inform philosophical approaches to a range of topics, including interpersonal understanding and empathy, free will, the experience of time, the nature of emotion and feeling, what it is to believe something, and what it is to hope.
This book will be of interest to anyone seeking to understand and relate to experiences of depression, including philosophers, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, therapists, and those who have been directly or indirectly affected by depression.
Throughout the book, Ratcliffe also emphasizes the relevance of depression to philosophical enquiry. He proposes that, by reflecting on how experiences of depression differ from 'healthy' forms of experience, we can refine our understanding of both. Hence phenomenological research of this kind has much wider applicability. He further shows how the study of depression experiences can inform philosophical approaches to a range of topics, including interpersonal understanding and empathy, free will, the experience of time, the nature of emotion and feeling, what it is to believe something, and what it is to hope.
This book will be of interest to anyone seeking to understand and relate to experiences of depression, including philosophers, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, therapists, and those who have been directly or indirectly affected by depression.
336 pages, Paperback
First published November 29, 2014
11 people are currently reading
256 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 30, 2016
The butler did it.
In fact, an excellent study. You would need some familiarity, but don't have to be all that expert in either phenomenology or psychology to follow the main lines of the phenomenological approach Ratcliffe takes. Simply for its phenomenological accounts of experiences of depression, it would be worth while.
Ratcliffe challenges prevailing clinical diagnoses of depression, not to gainsay them, but to submit them to a critique of their unity, depth, and usefulness. Challenges to a major approach to treatment -- cognitive therapy -- follows. For instance, if depression is not fundamentally a matter of incorrect beliefs about hopelessness or worthlessness, but instead a fundamental "existential feeling" that any hope at all is impossible to believe in, then changing "beliefs" can't resolve the more basic impossibility of that belief having real meaning in the first place.
Some of Ratcliffe's most contentious phenomenological arguments concern empathy and the distinction between a cognitive phenomenological approach and (which I think is more correct) one that provides access to the pre-thetic, pre-positing strata of consciousness.
In fact, an excellent study. You would need some familiarity, but don't have to be all that expert in either phenomenology or psychology to follow the main lines of the phenomenological approach Ratcliffe takes. Simply for its phenomenological accounts of experiences of depression, it would be worth while.
Ratcliffe challenges prevailing clinical diagnoses of depression, not to gainsay them, but to submit them to a critique of their unity, depth, and usefulness. Challenges to a major approach to treatment -- cognitive therapy -- follows. For instance, if depression is not fundamentally a matter of incorrect beliefs about hopelessness or worthlessness, but instead a fundamental "existential feeling" that any hope at all is impossible to believe in, then changing "beliefs" can't resolve the more basic impossibility of that belief having real meaning in the first place.
Some of Ratcliffe's most contentious phenomenological arguments concern empathy and the distinction between a cognitive phenomenological approach and (which I think is more correct) one that provides access to the pre-thetic, pre-positing strata of consciousness.
November 7, 2021
A great exploration of what it's like to have depression. I often found myself wishing, though, that it was more approachable. It is dense. I have a degree in philosophy and still struggled at times. He used a lot of very technical language when I think more understandable and approachable language would work at least as well. I would read a passage and think "yes! I wish I could have _ read this and understand!" But then I'd be like yeah I'm not sure they'd get much out of it, or be able to get through it.
So great content, but I wish it were easier to read.
The distinction between existential causes of symptoms of depression and other less pervasive causes was a great point and helped me understand my life experiences better
So great content, but I wish it were easier to read.
The distinction between existential causes of symptoms of depression and other less pervasive causes was a great point and helped me understand my life experiences better
March 11, 2025
Erg interessant en overtuigend. De toch al zware kost had hier en daar wel wat behapbaarder kunnen worden gebracht - Ratcliffe is ontzettend gedetailleerd en grondig, waardoor het soms moeilijk is om overzicht te bewaren in welk punt hij aan het maken is en waarom. Verder erg boeiend!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews