At the beginning of analysis: The Jonah Syndrome

In the Bible, the Book of Jonah tells of the prophet’s descent into the abyss after he refused to break out of immobility and answer God‘s call to go convert Nineveh, the city of sinners. This story, a metaphor for the work of individuation according to Jung, can shed new light on the beginnings of psychoanalysis with certain passive patients, set in their certainties, their hearts closed to otherness. Like Jonah, they often show absolute faithfulness to their cold, depressed mothers.