Depression: Clinical Definition and Case Histories

Abstract

T he term depression indicates lack of tonicity, loss of energy, feelings of weakness, of power-lessness, unhappiness, self-punishment, and the whole range of negative feelings. We shall consider depression and melancholy as synonyms. Depression and melancholy are thymic troubles, which can be either mild or serious, with all the nuances in between. We find organic affective syndromes with depression, for example, in infectious diseases like the flu, hyper-thyroidism, and so forth. They are also found in schiz-ophrenia. The term melancholy is derived from the Greek melas (black) and kholê (bile), and has been used from antiquity in philosophy, literature, medicine, psychia-try and psychoanalysis to define a form of madness characterised on one hand by a black humor—that is, a deep sadness, a depressive state that may lead to sui-cide—and on the other hand, by manifestations of fright and discouragement that may or may not appear as delirium.