Sources of Suffering

Salman Akhtar, MD, was born in India and completed his medical and psychiatric education there. Upon arriving in the USA in 1973, he repeated his psychiatric training at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, and then obtained psychoanalytic training from the Philadelphia Psychoanalytic Institute. Currently, he is Professor of Psychiatry at Jefferson Medical College and a training and supervising analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia. He has authored, edited or co-edited more than 300 publications including books on psychiatry and psychoanalysis and several collections of poetry. He is also a Scholar-in-Residence at the Inter-Act Theatre Company in Philadelphia. Salman Akhtar received the Sigourney Award in 2012.

'In this gem of a book, Salman Akhtar turns his erudite gaze on fear, greed, guilt, deception, betrayal, and revenge. He draws from a wide spectrum of psychoanalytic theories and includes insights from developmental research, contemporary neuroscience, and even poetry and literature. The result is a fresh and scholarly synthesis of ideas about human suffering that will stimulate both the novice and seasoned clinician alike. It is crafted by a master of the written word.'-Fakhry Davids, London'What gives this book its special character is the deep humanity with which Salman Akhtar explores "unnecessary, pathological but remediable suffering". The wide and penetrating lens of his exploration, and the fact that each emotion is looked at in phenomenological, developmental, and sociocultural aspects, gives the book both a universal value and a contemporary flavour. It also evokes in the clinician and the reader a renewed tolerance towards the complexity of human emotions.'-Maria Teresa Savio Hooke, Sydney'In this original and comprehensive analysis of six basic human emotions, Salman Akhtar has achieved a unique integration of the phenomenological, sociocultural, and psychopathological aspects of these sources of human suffering. Fear, greed, guilt, deception, betrayal, and revenge are clarified as essential human challenges, and the psychoanalyst's struggle in unmasking and resolving their destructive aims is masterfully illustrated with clinical case material. An extensive and carefully selected bibliography complements what might become an essential text for the experienced clinician as well as a wonderful overview for the entire spectrum of psychodynamic psychotherapists.'-Otto Kernberg, New York'Using his theoretical, clinical, and teaching skills, Salman Akhtar explores the intricacies of six sources of human suffering from various perspectives. The book is exceptionally rich in clinical vignettes, which illustrate with candour the sources of suffering of both patient and analyst. Profound, yet clear and didactic, it is a rare blend of scholarship, poetry, sharp wit, and therapeutic skill. Learning from this book about the sources of human suffering is an enriching intellectual and emotional experience.'-Ilany Kogan, Jerusalem

• Introduction -- Suffering Tolerated -- Fear -- Greed -- Guilt -- Suffering Inflicted -- Deception -- Betrayal -- Revenge