The Wound of Mortality: Fear, Denial, and Acceptance of Death (Margaret S. Mahler) - Tapa dura

This anthology is edited by Salman Akhtar, who is now well on his way to becoming the most prolific author in psychoanalytic history. Akhtar's sterling introduction, together with twelve subsequent essays by psychoanalysts, offers a vast examination of death, ranging from Freudian to post-Freudian commentary, from the theoretical to the clinical, from the cultural to the intrapsychic, from the transferential to the countertransferential, and from the developmental to the defensive. Recalling E.M. Forster's remark that physical death destroys us whereas the thought of death may save us, readers of this book might also experience the wound of mortality as losing some of its sting. -- Patrick Mahony, PhD, professor emeritus, University of Montreal; training and supervising analyst, Canadian Psychoanalytic Society If you believe as I do that psychoanalysts have underestimated the importance of the conscious and cultural meanings of mortality by emphasizing its unconscious significances alone, this book restores the appropriate balance that is not to be missed. As a reward, the reader's empathic sensitivity will be broadened and interpretations of all sorts of anxieties, fantasies, and concerns about death will be enriched. -- David M. Sachs, MD, training and supervising analyst, Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia

Death is a much avoided topic. Literature does exist on mourning, but its focus remains upon the death of others. The fact of one's own mortality and its inevitable psychic impact on one's life is not optimally covered either in this literature or elsewhere in psychiatry and psychoanalysis. Bringing together contributions from distinguished psychoanalysts, The Wound of Morality fills this gap by addressing the issue of death in a comprehensive manner.