Scarcity of Emotional Care and Depression: A Psychoanalysis of This Close to Happy by Daphne Merkin

Abstract

Depression is the most problematic psychic disorder which comprises imbalanced life, uneasiness, grief, agonies, unhappiness, unpleasantness, the unsatisfied outlooks and the worries affecting the psyche of a person. Whenever, anyone loses something dear or loved, or there is any tragedy, difficulty, death, etc, the person feels depressed. The depressed person due to the feelings of helplessness and hopelessness deviates from the normal course of life and suffers from anxiety and pessimism. This Close to Happy is a deeply personal and intimate account of the life of Daphne Merkin. She has powerfully written the heartbreaking and illuminating life events to manifest both the symptoms and courage to overcome depression. She writes about the trauma in her childhood caused by the stay with her holocaust surviving parents leading her to depression later on. Though her family was financially sound, still Merkin and her siblings were made to live with some abusive caretakers leaving a scar on her psyche to push her into depression. Her mother would always almost all the time remain emotionally absent. Her father was extremely cruel and indifferent towards his children. She would have the thoughts of committing suicide and contemplate about death every time. As she came under the grip of depression, it became impossible for her to eat or talk properly even to her therapist. She underwent continuous therapy for almost more than forty years. This memoir is a significant attempt to break the stereotype of pretending to be alright and show all the inner and outer struggles to battle courageously the affects of depression.