Meaning and Melancholia: Life in the Age of Bewilderment

by Christopher Bollas

Meaning and Life in the Age of Bewilderment sees Christopher Bollas apply his creative and innovative psychoanalytic thinking to various contemporary social, cultural and political themes. This book offers an incisive exploration of powerful trends within, and between, nations in the West over the past two hundred years. The author traces shifts in psychological forces and ‘frames of mind’, that have resulted in a crucial ‘intellectual climate change’. He contends that recent decades have seen rapid and significant transformations in how we define our ‘selves’, as a new emphasis on instant connectedness has come to replace reflectiveness and introspection. Bollas argues that this trend has culminated in the current rise of psychophobia; a fear of the mind and a rejection of depth psychologies that has paved the way for what he sees as hate based solutions to world problems, such as the victory of Trump in America and Brexit in the United Kingdom. He maintains that, if we are to counter the threat to democracy posed by these changes and refind a more balanced concept of the self within society, we must put psychological insight at the heart of a new kind of analysis of culture and society. This remarkable, thought-provoking book will appeal to anyone interested in politics, social policy and cultural studies, and in the gaining of insight into the ongoing challenges faced by the Western democracies and the global community.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Psychoanalysis

142 pages, Hardcover

First published March 29, 2018

About the author

Christopher Bollas, Ph.D. is a Member of the International Psychoanalytical Association and has been practicing for over fifty years. Former Director of Education at the Austen Riggs Center he was Visiting Professor of Psychoanalysis at the Institute of Child Neuropsychiatry of the University of Rome. He is a prolific author and international lecturer.

Reviews

[Harry · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this thought-provoking and timely work, Christopher Bollas outlines the ways in which we have adapted to the complexities and challenges of contemporary life by abandoning meaning-making and depth. Without a sense of depth, a psychological-mindedness, we are left at the mercy of various forms of splitting and projection. These threaten democracy and our chance at living full and connected lives.
How do we live in an age of unprocessed loss, fear and an emerging landscape of melancholia?
Without the capacity to look inside and face our sense of abandonment, betrayal and loss of meaning, we lose ourselves in the emptiness of things and facts and material, while the world around us becomes more treacherous, more corrupt, more driven by senseless rage.
Can we return to a respect for democracy, for introspection and contemplation?
Finishing this short work did leave me thinking (and craving a bit of escape too!). It awakened me to an awareness that healing must occur on both individual and collective levels, something borne out every day I work in a mental health care system that seems to be more and more focused on bewildered and lost clinicians attempting to change the thinking of bewildered and lost individuals. Splitting again as the system struggles valiantly to find ways to continue to justify and believe in itself while avoiding the self-reflection that might lead to more adaptive change.

[martha_bookaholic ©️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bellissimo, un'analisi psico- sociale profonda degli ultimi secoli

[Nikki DiVirgilio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommend if you want a (psychoanalytic) framework to comprehend our current state of collective affairs.

[8Eight8 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd give it 4.5 stars. Very interesting food for thought 🤔🤔

[Giorgi Tskhakaia · Rating 5 out of 5]

what a great read to cap off 2025