This paper briefly follows the Freudian theory of mourning. Using part of a clinical case, an attempt is made to demonstrate that the vicissitudes of mourning may differ from those proposed by Freud, namely, either 'working through' it or collapsing into melancholy. Emphasis is made on the great difficulty involved in the mourning process, as well as on the value of other possible symptom formations in the event of mourning not being well worked through.
mourning; anxiety; dead-alive; incorporation