A developmental perspective of depression--towards a novel formulation.

A novel conceptualization of depression, analyzed in a developmental frame of reference, is based on three major postulates: 1) the distinction between an anaclitic type of depression, triggered by the traumatic loss of a need-satisfying object, and depression of a reflexive (narcissistic) type, caused by the loss of a recognizing/mirroring object; 2) in principle, anaclitic object loss involves reflexive implications and vice versa; 3) very early breaks of object relationships, at the first symbiotic stage of life, are pre-narcissistic by nature. These three assumptions form the basis for a systematic juxtaposition of two developmental lines--one line from first-stage symbiosis to anaclitic object relations, and the second line--from second-stage symbiosis to reflexive object relations. Even though the two lines are closely intertwined, corresponding distinct forms of depressive reactions can be discerned in each line, according to the type of the lost object relationship.