Depression and the Soul

In Depression and the Soul, John Peteet proves the old adage that the best physician is also a philosopher. He considers how to approach the problem of depression within a larger context, and reviews current concepts of successful living relative to the heart (emotion and volition), the mind (cognition and coping), and the soul (the self in relation to transcendent reality). Each chapter goes on to further explore the relationship between depression and the context of a patient’s entire life. This is done through consideration of how the existential struggles of depressed individuals engage their spiritual lives, by reviewing current empirical literature on depression and spirituality, comparing the perspectives of various spiritual traditions or world views, and summarizing ways that spirituality and depression interact.

John R. Peteet, MD, is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is also a medical staff executive committee member at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and is former Chair of Corresponding Committee on Religion, Spirituality, and Psychiatry of the American Psychiatric Association.