Despair and Psychological Clinic

Abstract

Despair is commonly understood as a burden or suffering should be removed from life. Likewise, what we normally understand as a deadly disease concerns the state of health that leads to death. This text points, with Kierkegaard, to another form of understanding. First, it will deal with despair as a disease of existence, that is, a sickness unto death. Next, the relationship between this sickness, characterized as fighting against the conditions of existence, and the possibility of accepting these conditions will develop. Finally, it will point to a psychological clinic that has this other form of understanding as the foundation of its practice.