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The Bell Jar: Sylvia Plath's first-person narrative of core elements for diagnosing and treating clinical depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2024

Carlos Carona Open the ORCID record for Carlos Carona [Opens in a new window]  and
Paula Atanázio
Carlos Carona*
Affiliation:
Invited assistant professor in the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Coimbra (Portugal) and an academic researcher in the Center for Research in Neuropsychology and Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention at the same university. He is also a clinical psychologist with an advanced specialty in psychotherapy and lectures in the fields of cognitive–behavioural interventions, complex mental healthcare needs and scientific methodology. His main clinical and research interests include: cognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT), developmental psychopathology, philosophy of science and clinical communication.
Paula Atanázio
Affiliation:
Counselling and Developmental Psychology, awarded by the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of Coimbra University, Portugal. She is a school psychologist at Dr. Henrique Medina High School (Esposende, Portugal), with wide experience in school-based CBT interventions directed at adolescents with behavioural and emotional disorders.
*
Correspondence Dr Carlos Carona. Email: ccarona@fpce.uc.pt
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Summary

The Bell Jar (1963) is a semi-autobiographical novel written by the confessional poet, novelist and short-story writer Sylvia Plath (1932–1963). It has been often cited as a recommended reading within the medical humanities, because of its powerful description of depression and the understanding-by-experience of the related psychiatric treatments. This brief article, primarily directed at the clinically oriented reader, presents a selection of excerpts from The Bell Jar to illustrate the main diagnostic features of clinical depression and the vital role of therapeutic relationship quality in hindering or facilitating treatment outcomes and recovery.

Keywords

Depressionmedical humanitiessemi-autobiographical noveleducation and trainingarts and psychiatry
Type
Memory Lane
Information
BJPsych Advances , First View , pp. 1 - 3
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Royal College of Psychiatrists

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