THE ROLE OF RELATIVES IN THE TREATMENT OF DEPRESSIVE PATIENTS - A SYSTEMIC-INTEGRATIVE VIEW

The paper begins by presenting a set of empirical generalizations conc erning the connection between affective disorder and the patient's rel ationships with spounse and other family members. The next section dea ls with diagnosis, indication, etiology and the therapeutic relationsh ip in respect to therapeutic work with patients and their family membe rs. The last part concerns the perspectives for systemic therapy follo wing the breakdown of the assumption that there are specific connectio ns between depressive syndromes and family interactions.