mourner

is one who might be aware of whom they have lost, but not what they have lost in them, resulting in inconsolability.

But for the depressive (or melancholic) precisely who this person is and the place he or she holds in their life is not immediately obvious. Freud writes of how a mourner might be aware of whom they have lost, but not what they have lost in them (SE XIV, 245). As a result, feelings of sadness and worthlessness reported by those suffering from depression cannot be combatted by reassuring the person of their worthiness, or pointing out how wrong they are to feel the way they do.

is, in fact, ill, but because this state of mind is common and seems so natural to us, we do not call mourning an illness. In mourning the subject goes through a modified and transitory manic-depressive state and overcomes it.

The mourner is in fact ill, but because this state of mind is common and seems so natural to us, we do not call mourning an illness . To put my conclusion more precisely: I should say that in mourning the subject goes through a modified and transitory manic-depressive state and overcomes it. Joan Didion, The Year of Magical Thinking

mourner, n.All

mourner