From Melancholia to Depression:Ideas on a Possible Continuity

摘要

In this paper, the history of melancholia and depression is addressed, with special emphasis on the issue of their continuity. Not surprisingly, opinions are divided on this matter. Proponents of what could be called the 'unproblematic continuity view' argue that what is now termed depressive disorder is more or less similar to melancholia. Proponents of the 'discontinuity view' firmly deny this. It is argued that, on a more finegrained view, a modest continuity view is justified. In the first part of the paper, (1) an alternative interpretation of the unity of melancholia is provided that serves as a starting point for (2) a reconsideration of the relation between melancholia and depression. In the last part of the paper, (3) an attempt is made to shed light on differing etiological explanations of melancholia and to show how some of them have come to shape recent approaches to depression.