ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses existential distress in general, and then Meursault's distress viewed from a rational psychoanalytic perspective. It presents the basic outline of affect regulation, of grief and the consequences of alexithymia. The chapter demonstrates how it is possible to access the experiences and behaviour as depicted in the The Stranger by gaining an understanding of affect regulation. It provides the novel's events with an emphasis on Meursault's emotional attitude towards himself and others, such as his deceased mother and other people in his life, including their emotions. The chapter also presents the external events as reflections of internalised relationships, split into solely good or solely bad relationships. It aims to compare conscious grief with averted grief during depression, and portray the meaning of averting grief for Meursault, concluding with a brief depiction of the similarity with the emotional difficulties of analys and their immediate use for day-to-day therapeutic work.
