The Anatomy Of Regret

Anatomy of Regret has a highly clinical focus, with cases that illustrate how critical psychic change can emerge from the mourning of the grief of "psychic regret". This book highlights the developmental achievement of owning the guilt of aggression, and of tolerating insight into the losses one had produced. The author uses the term "psychic regret" to capture the essence of the process of facing regret consciously. This is in contrast to the split-off and persecutory dynamics of unconscious guilt. Unconscious guilt exposes itself through visceral and cognitive impingements, which are related to internal world enactments, and it relies on unconscious avoidance of the pain and loss involved in facing psychic regret. The author's theory of "developmental mourning" is illustrated in this book through in-depth lively clinical processes (cases and vignettes).

No Regrets: Remorse in Classical Antiquity is the first sustained study examining the circumstances under which the emotions of remorse and regret were manifested in Greek and Roman public life. Despite a still-common notion that remorse is a modern, monotheistic emotion, it argues that remorse did in fact exist in pre-Christian antiquity. By discussing the standard lexical denotations of remorse, Fulkerson shows how its parameters were rather different from its modern counterpart. Remorse in the ancient world was normally not expressed by high-status individuals, but by their inferiors, notably women, the young, and subjects of tyrants, nor was it redemptive, but often served to show defect of character. Through a series of examples, especially poetic, historical, and philosophical texts, this book demonstrates this was so because of the very high value placed on consistency of character in the ancient world. High-status men, in particular, faced constant challenges to their position, and maintaining at least the appearance of uniformity was essential to their successful functioning. The redemptive aspects of remorse, of learning from one's mistakes, were thus nearly absent in the ancient world.

Nuri is a young boy when his mother dies. It seems that nothing will fill the emptiness her strange death leaves behind. Until Mona. When Nuri first sees Mona, the rest of the world vanishes. But it is Nuri's father with whom Mona falls in love and whom she will eventually marry. Their happiness consumes Nuri to the point at which he longs to get his father out of the way. However, Nuri will soon regret what he wished for. As the world he shares with his stepmother is shattered by events beyond their control, they both begin to realize how little they really knew about the man they loved. In a delicately wrought and beautifully tender voice, Hisham Matar's extraordinary new novel asks, When a loved one disappears how does his or her absence shape the lives of those who are left?

Self-help guide for teenagers struggling with bereavement. Provides an overview of grief as a painful but normal process. Offers insights from bereavement experts and practical suggestions for coping. Includes stories of personal experience from other teenagers.