Can you swallow your mother as a pill? Thoughts on antidepressant pharmacotherapy in the course of group psychotherapy

Abstract

To this day, the complicated mechanism of antidepressants and its effects are not fully known, although their effectiveness is not undermined. A fascinating area of research and reflection, very useful in clinical practice, may be the area at the junction of brain biochemistry and the rest of our body as well as the psychological mechanisms, which are on the one hand beneficiaries of pharmacology, and on the other hand regulate its effects. One of the more recent studies shows that the state, which can be achieved after taking SSRI antidepressants, is reminiscent of the feeling of being in a relationship with a caring — as the psychotherapist Donald Winnicott would say — good enough mother. If we accept that chemical substances affect our feelings, thoughts and relationship patterns, then they also affect our relational schemas and therefore real life relations. Thus, they also affect the way psychotherapy is conducted. This process seems to be most visible in situations where we have a wealth of relationship interaction - in group psychotherapy.