Mourning and Melancholia

Mourning and Melancholia (German: Trauer und Melancholie) is a 1917 work of Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis.^[1]

Mourning and Melancholia

Author	Sigmund Freud
Original title	Trauer und Melancholie
Language	German
Subjects	Mourning Melancholia
Publication date	1917
Publication place	Germany

In this essay, Freud argues that mourning and melancholia are similar but different responses to loss. In mourning, a person deals with the grief of losing a specific love object, and this process takes place in the conscious mind. In melancholia, a person grieves for a loss they are unable to fully comprehend or identify, and thus this process takes place in the unconscious mind. Mourning is considered a healthy and natural process of grieving a loss, while melancholia is considered pathological.

It has been argued by some writers that Freud's description of mourning in this work is not compatible with current models of mourning.^[2][3]

Further reading

• Freud, Sigmund (1914–1916). The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume XIV, On The History of Psycho-Analytic Movement, Papers on Metapsychology and Other Works (PDF). London: Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis. Retrieved November 26, 2023. The book link is to Sigmund Freud's essay "Mourning and Melacholia" which has been extracted from the book.