The concept that loss and/or separation might play a pivotal role in the generation of a depressive episode has been a key point in several theories seeking to explain the etiology of affective disorder. Freud’s initial hypothesis suggested that a fixation (i.e., an arresting of psychological growth) at a highly dependent phase of development rendered a person much more vulnerable to the development of depression following a real or imagined loss in adult life (Freud, 1917). Elaborations of Freud’s theory have broadened the concept of loss to include experiences of separation and social rejection.