Top

Published in:

01-02-2014 | Biographical Exploration

Illness Narrative, Depression, and Sainthood: An Analysis of the Writings of Mother Teresa

Author: S. Taylor Williams

Published in: Journal of Religion and Health | Issue 1/2014

Abstract

In 2007, the letters of The Blessed Mother Teresa to her confessors were published for the public in a book entitled Come Be My Light. What surprised many readers was that Mother Teresa felt very distant from God and described feeling great “darkness” for many years. This paper draws parallels between the writings of Mother Teresa and those of writers’ illness narratives describing the psychiatric condition of Depression. The author provides this textual analysis to explore Mother Teresa’s experience within a psychiatric paradigm (Major Depressive Disorder), in comparison with and contrast to the spiritual paradigm of a “Dark Night of the Soul.”

A Saint of Darkness. The New York Times, September 5, 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/05/opinion/05wed4.html?ref=teresamother. Accessed October 18, 2011.

Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. (2011). http://www.acgme.org/acWebsite/dutyHours/dh_dutyhoursCommonPR07012007.pdf. Accessed 27 October 2011.

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association Press.

Boscarino, J. A., Adama, R. E., & Figley, C. R. (2010). Secondary trauma issues for psychiatrists. Psychiatric Times, 27, 24–26.PubMedCentralPubMed

Burton, R. (1621). The anatomy of melancholy. Oxford: Oxford.

Bury, M. (2001). Illness narratives: Fact or fiction? Sociology of Health & Illness, 23, 263–285.CrossRef

Catholic Encyclopedia. (2011). http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05221b.htm. Accessed October 19, 2011.

First, M. B. (2010). Paradigm shifts and the development of the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: Past experiences and future aspirations. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 55, 692–700.

Heffernan, V. (2001). A delicious placebo. In N. Casey (Ed.), Unholy ghost: Writers on depression (pp. 8–20). New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

Hitchens, C. (1994). Hell’s Angel. UK: Bandung Productions.

Hitchens, C. (2007). Teresa, bright and dark. Newsweek. http://richarddawkins.net/articles/1582. Accessed October 17, 2011.

Hyden, L.-C. (1997). Illness and narrative. Sociology of Health & Illness, 19, 48–69.

Jamison, K. R. (1995). An unquiet mind. New York: Random House Vintage Books.

Karp, D. (2001). An unwelcome career. In N. Casey (Ed.), Unholy ghost: Writers on depression (pp. 138–148). New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

Kokanovic, R., Butler, E., Halilovich, H., Palmer, V., Griffiths, F., Dowrick, C., et al. (2013). Maps, models, and narratives: The ways people talk about depression. Qualitative Health Research, 23, 114–125.PubMedCrossRef

Kolodiejchuk, B. (Ed.). (2007). Mother Teresa: Come be my light—The private writings of the Saint of Calcutta. New York: Doubleday Religion.

Mairs, N. (2001). On living behind bars. In N. Casey (Ed.), Unholy ghost: Writers on depression (pp. 181–213). New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

Martin, J. K., Pescosolido, B. A., & Tuch, S. A. (2000). Of fear and loathing: The role of ‘disturbing behavior’, labels, and causal attributions in shaping public attitudes toward people with mental illness. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 41, 208–223.CrossRef

Mother Teresa of Calcutta Center. (2011). http://www.motherteresa.org/layout.html. Accessed November 10, 2011.

Payne, J. S. (2009). Variations in pastors’ perceptions of the etiology of depression by race and religious affiliation. Community Mental Health Journal, 45, 355–365.PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef

Plath, S. (1963). The bell jar. London: Heinemann.

Shenk, J. W. (2001). A melancholy of mine own. In N. Casey (Ed.), Unholy ghost: Writers on depression (pp. 242–255). New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

Solomon, A. (2001). The noonday demon: An atlas of depression. New York: Touchstone.

Solomon, A. (2011). NARSAD The Brain and Behavior Research Fund. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3zHZGpy8WE&feature=relmfu. Accessed November 3, 2011.

Styron, W. (1990). Darkness visible: A memoir of madness. New York: Random House.

VanBiema, D. (2007). Mother Teresa’s crisis of faith. Time magazine. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1655720,00.html. Accessed October 17, 2011.

Vatican. (1994). Catechism of the Catholic Church. http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P9Q.HTM paragraph 2731. Accessed October 17, 2011.

Wang, P. S., Berglund, P. A., & Kessler, R. C. (2003). Patterns and correlates of contacting clergy for mental disorders in the United States. Health Services Research, 38, 647–673.PubMedCrossRef

Wurtzel, E. (1994). Prozac nation. New York: Riverhead Trade.

Zagano, P., & Gillespie, C. K. (2011). Mother Teresa’s Dark Night. Catholic Update. http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/preview.aspx?id=253 October 19, 2011. Accessed October 17, 2011.

Title: Illness Narrative, Depression, and Sainthood: An Analysis of the Writings of Mother Teresa
Author: S. Taylor Williams
Publication date: 01-02-2014
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Journal of Religion and Health / Issue 1/2014
Print ISSN: 0022-4197
Electronic ISSN: 1573-6571
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-013-9774-2

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Illness Narrative, Depression, and Sainthood: An Analysis of the Writings of Mother Teresa

Abstract

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 1/2014

Religion and BMI in Australia

Do Ramadan Fasting Restrictions Alter Eating Behaviours in Obese Women?

Adolescent Sexual Risk-Taking in the Informal Settlements of Nairobi, Kenya: Understanding the Contributions of Religion

Editorial

Extracting Dirt From Water: A Strengths-Based Approach to Religion for African American Same-Gender-Loving Men

Church-Based Social Support, Functional Disability, and Change in Personal Control over Time