Book excerpt: This book brings together cutting-edge expertise from psychoanalysis, psychiatry, neuroscience and social science to shed light on the dark side of chronic depression. Considering different forms of depression on a continuum, the book develops new diagnostical considerations on depression. It includes detailed case studies from clinical psychoanalytical practice, conceptual considerations and historical analyses to current empirical and neurobiological studies on depression. The book is unique in bridging a gap between Anglo-Saxon/German psychoanalysis and French traditions in relation to clinical treatment techniques and conceptualizations of depression and trauma. Chapters present new research on the social, biographical, genetic and neurobiological determinants of severe depressive disorder and explore how these can be differentiated and expanded in the face of new cultural realities as well of new findings particularly in modern neurosciences. The book explores new understanding and discussion of treatment options for depression and will be essential reading for researchers and students in the field of depression and mental health research. It will also enrich the conceptual and clinical knowledge of psychoanalysts and psychotherapy researchers and students.