The The psychopathology of affective life from the phenomenological and enactive perspective of Thomas Fuchs

Abstract

This article presents the phenomenological and enactive perspective of psychiatrist and philosopher Thomas Fuchs, which considers mental illnesses as disturbances of the being-in-the-world. The author moves away from the belief that affective life is solely in our head and instead understands it as a phenomenon that emerges in the relationship between the self, body, and world. Examples of pathological experiences of affectivity, such as depression and alexithymia, will be reviewed. Finally, we consider that this perspective has important implications for the treatment of mental illness, as it provides the basis for an ecological therapeutic approach.

Keywords: Thomas Fuchs, Phenomenology, Enactivism, Psychopathology, Affectivity.