Therapy of the chronic depressions
Kraines, S.H.
Diseases of the Nervous System 28(9): 577-584
1967
ISSN/ISBN: 0012-3714 PMID: 6052923 Document Number: 3196
Chronic depressions try the very souls of therapist and patient alike. The depressions go on and on. Many persist 5 to 7 years, despite the most intense efforts of dedicated and knowledgeable men. They are physiologic in origin, though their mask is psychologic. They persist despite therapy, but they also, in both a gratifying and frustrating fashion, clear up spontaneously, The therapist tries and keeps trying. If he is flexible he will not be hedged in by adherence to one school of thought. But even though his efforts do not succeed in curing, he nonetheless is obligated to do what he can to alleviate the endless misery of the patient, to be aware of the dangers and pitfalls of suicide and alcoholism, and to make certain that when Time has deigned to cure, the patient not only has not acquired new neuroses but has been rid of those which pre-existed his depressive illness. In the intractable, unyielding, chronic depressions, the therapist can do much if he understands the role of Time, and if he has the emotional strength to be endlessly sympathetic, enduringly patient, and continuously reassuring.
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