There is a conflict which seems to be especially lively recently, between two mottos: “don’t worry, be happy”, and a slightly less known adage: “don’t be happy, worry”. It is known as the medicalization versus romanticization of sadness. In my lecture, I would like to draw attention to how much the medical description, by definition oriented on describing weaknesses and ailments of a patient in order to treat them, is not complete, similarly to the description of melancholy from conviction – elevating and idealized. I will point out these contemporary narratives which take into account treatment of clinical depression, and at the same time talk about maintaining the sense of presence in the face of negative experiences, instead of avoiding them at all cost. This is because at a time of a depression epidemic a debate about where does melancholy currently hide seems to me both risky, but even more necessary, as a paradoxical antidote to depression.
Bio:
Mira Marcinów – philosopher, psychologist and writer. Author of books: “Szaleństwo jako wybór” (2012), “Niezabliźniona rana Narcyza” (2018) (together with B. Dobroczyński), “Historia polskiego szaleństwa” (2018) (nominated for the Poznań Literary Award) and “Bezmatek” (2020) for which she received the Polityka Passport award, MISIE 2021 award and a nomination to the Nike Literary Award and Conrad Award. She studied psychology and philosophy within Inter-faculty Individual Studies in Humanities at the Jagiellonian University where she defended her PhD in psychology. She works in the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. Co-founder of the Center for Psychoanalytic Thought at the Institute of Philosophy of Polish Academy of Sciences. Finalist of the Polityka Science Award (2019).
