The word melanncholia has Greek roots (chole - bile, mélas - black). Melancholia is a mental disorder accompanied by a depressed mood. It used to be called depression.
A bit of history
When did the concept of "melancholy" first appear? The meaning of the word, as already mentioned, is determined by Greek roots. For the first time, a description of the state is found in Homer in the Iliad, which tells about the wanderings of Bellerophon along the Aleian field. Pythagoras of Samos gave recommendations in the event of depression. In particular, in his writings, he said that during bouts of anger or sadness, one should leave people and, left alone, "digest" the sensations, coming to calmness. Pythagoras was the first to prescribe music therapy. In hours of despondency, he recommended listening to music - the hymns of Hesiod. Democritus advised to analyze one's life and contemplate the world when a person had melancholy (synonyms for the concept are oppression, depression, depression). For an extended period, there was no clear definition of the condition.
Who first defined the state?
For the first time I tried to define what melancholy is, Hippocrates. In his writings, there are two concepts with which he tried to explain this condition. Firstly, Hippocrates called melancholy one of the temperaments of people in whose body a lot of bile has accumulated.
In his opinion, a person who is characterized by such a state avoids society and the world, he constantly sees dangers. In addition, such people constantly complain of pain in the abdomen, "as if they were pricked with many needles." Arguing about what melancholy is, Hippocrates associated this condition with a prolonged illness. He also described some of the symptoms: insomnia, aversion to food, anxiety, irritability. It should be said: the assumption that provoking factors should be sought in the work of the brain was put forward by the predecessors of Hippocrates. But it was he who wrote down that all complaints and discontent sit in the head. It is from this that a person becomes insane, he is seized with fear or anxiety.
Whose other writings mention melanncholia?
Many philosophers discussed what melancholy is. For example, in his writings, Aristotle asked the question: "Why were individuals who shone in public administration or creativity often been in a depressed state?" Some suffered from a spill of bile (Hercules for example). He was considered by his contemporaries to be a melancholic, and the ancients called Heracles' disease by his name. ATPlato's writings have several definitions of oppression. Arguing about what melancholy is, the philosopher spoke of a certain state of mania. It could manifest itself in the form of madness, rage, or inspiration and delight. In the latter case, Plato spoke of the "correct" frenzy emanating from the Muses. In other words, depression, in his opinion, gave poetic inspiration and pointed to the advantages of a person capable of being in such a state over other, ordinary people who are characterized by worldly rationality. Avicenna also gave his definition of what melancholy is. In his writings, he called this state a deviation towards frustration, damage, fear. It was possible to determine the state by constant obsessions, excessive thoughtfulness, a look fixed on the ground or on one thing. Avicenna also names sadness on the face and insomnia as signs.
Modern classification of mental pathologies
The disease can occur at different ages. However, older and older people are most susceptible to mental disorders. In this case, pathologies may or may not provoke dementia. In medicine, senile and involutional psychoses are distinguished. In the first case, the disease develops on the basis of a destructive process that occurs in the brain. It is accompanied by gross violations of the intellect.
Involutional diseases
These pathologies include disorders that do not lead to dementia. Their development is facilitated by a special warehousepersonality - with signs of rigidity, suspiciousness, anxiety. Previous somatic pathologies, psychotraumatic situations can act as provoking factors. Involutional melancholy is characteristic of women after menopause (hormonal changes in the body). Protracted anxiety-delusional or anxious depression usually occurs between the ages of 50 and 65.
Treatment
In ancient Rome, therapeutic measures consisted of bloodletting. However, if the patient, due to poor he alth, this procedure was contraindicated, then emetics were prescribed. The patient was also recommended rubbing the whole body, laxatives. Doctors of antiquity sought to inspire the patient with good spirits during treatment. One of the effective methods was conversations with a melancholic on topics that previously interested him. Also, the patricians practiced an equally effective way to get rid of the disease - entertainment with sleep deprivation.
Therapeutic methods from the 18th to the 20th century
In Germany, melancholy was treated in a very strange way. The patient was tied to a rotating wheel, assuming that the centrifugal force would eliminate the "pood load from the shoulders", "lead weight from the limbs." However, it should be said that until the twentieth century, patients who came to psychiatrists were not on ceremony.
At that time, rather cruel methods were used to get rid of mental illness: chaining, beating, starvation. Such treatment, in particular, was received by George the Third. When the king fell intomadness, on the recommendations of the best European doctors, he was subjected to severe beatings. When he had another attack of melancholy, George III died.
For about three-quarters of a century, hydrotherapy has been used in medicine. To eliminate depression, get rid of a decadent mood, a sudden immersion in cold water was used until the first signs of suffocation appeared in the patient. The duration of the patient's stay in such conditions was equal to the time that was necessary for a not too quick reading of the Miserere psalm. Another method popular at that time was also used: the patient lay tied in the bath, and up to fifty buckets of cold water were poured over his head. At the beginning of the 19th century in Russia, leeches were applied to the anus for therapy, rubbing the head with tartar emetic. Warm baths were prescribed in winter, and cool baths in summer. Before the use of antidepressants, narcotic drugs were widely used. The most popular were opium and opiates. These drugs were used until the sixties of the twentieth century.
Modern treatments
Antidepressants are usually prescribed to alleviate or eliminate depression. They can be prescribed in combination with small doses of neuroleptic drugs (such as drugs, for example, "Etaperazin", "Frenolone", "Sonapaks"). The main task of drug treatment is to relieve stress, eliminate fear, anxiety, delirium. The drugs are prescribed by the attending physician. With the ineffectiveness of such treatment, electroconvulsive therapy is indicated in some cases. As a rule, the patient is admitted to a psychiatric hospital.
