Loss: Sadness and Depression

Attachment and Loss #3

by John Bowlby

In this third and final volume John Bowlby completes the trilogy Attachment and Loss, his much acclaimed work on the importance of the parental relationship to mental health. Here he examines the ways in which young children respond to a temporary or permanent loss of a mother-figure and the expression of anxiety, grief and mourning which accompany such loss. The theories presented differ in many ways from those advanced by Freud and elaborated by his followers, so much so that the frame of reference now offered for understanding personality development and psychopathology amounts to a new paradigm.

Attachment and Loss is a deeply important series of works that continue to influence the landscape of psychoanalysis and psychology, and Loss its revelatory closing chapter.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Psychoanalysis, Childrens, Parenting, Counselling, Relationships

496 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Psychologist, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, notable for his interest in child development and for his pioneering work in attachment theory.

Reviews

[Ted Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

May years ago, reading Bowlby defined an important interval in my reading and thinking. This was the third book in the series "Attachment", "Separation", and "Loss" that shaped my personal experience and my thought about psychology. Other works later took precedence over Bowlby's theories and investigations but they did not fully supplant them.

"Loss" was the most important in the series for me personally because it explained fundamental aspects of my childhood that I was not able to resolve until over a decade since I had read Bowlby. The good man wrote the book to read about depression in my view.

I would have to reread this work now or fully review it to review it but I do recall it being important to me.

[Nelson Zagalo · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to understand what sadness is, and how it works, this is the book to start.

[Ava]

No rating - read for college.

[Bookphenomena (Micky) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent seminal text. Print font displayed as original text. Chapters remain relevant to contemporary society. Can be read as well as reference text.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

helpful discussion on anxiety and angst.

[Judy]

children experience loss and mourn in their development.