Dependence and its relationship to depression

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Abstract
Evidence is provided that dependence, either as a trait or a state, is closely related to depression. Theories to explain this fall into two broad categories: that some individuals make excessive demands for affection and become depressed when these are not met; and that some have persistently negative attitudes to life and an inclination to self-blame. These correspond with Blatt's (1974) two sources of depression, the ‘anaclitic’ and the ‘introjective’. Self-esteem forms a link in both theoretical approaches. It is proposed that there are three major components to dependence, which have been named affectional, ontological and deferential. The first corresponds with Bowlby's concept of anxious attachment and the psychoanalytic concept of the oral personality. The last is closely related to Beck's (1967) depression-prone person. The second, originally described by Laing (1965), is concerned with a poorly established identity and causes the individual to relate to another by the imperfect process of fusion. Its part in predisposing the person to depression is less well recognized. Excessive independence, or detachment, may be as maladaptive as dependence and the opposite of both dependence and independence is autonomy. The autonomous person is truly separate and yet able to form intimate relationships.

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