Abstract
Although involutional melancholia is described with precision in the classical textbooks of psychiatry and has been maintained in the official nomenclature, it is uncommonly seen in current practice; some doubt has been expressed that it has ever existed as a distinct clinical entity. The evidence for its existence is reviewed and several explanations are offered for the apparent decline in the incidence of the involutional syndrome: among them, that the early use of effective therapy now prevents the full flowering of the characteristic symptomatology. A reinvestigation of this classical syndrome seems warranted.
Keywords
MelancholiaIncidence (geometry)PsychiatryDepression (economics)MedicinePsychologyClinical PracticePediatricsFamily medicine
MeSH Terms
AdultAnxietyBipolar DisorderBody WeightCatecholaminesDepressionDepressive DisorderMajorDiagnosisDifferentialElectroconvulsive TherapyEstrogensFactor AnalysisStatisticalFemaleGonadotropinsGuiltHormonesHumansHypochondriasisLibidoMaleMenopauseMiddle AgedPersonalityPersonality DisordersPsychoanalytic TheorySleep Initiation and Maintenance DisordersSuicide
Related Publications
Optimism and depression as predictors of physical and mental health functioning: The normative aging study
Dispositional optimism has been linked in previous studies to better health outcomes. We sought to examine the independent associations of dispositional optimism and depressive ...
Relation between catastrophizing and depression in chronic pain patients.
The relation between catastrophizing, depression, and pain was examined in 125 chronic pain patients. The Coping Strategies Questionnaire (CSQ; Rosenstiel & Keefe, 1983) assesse...
The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale
ABSTRACT– A self‐assessment scale has been developed and found to be a reliable instrument for detecting states of depression and anxiety in the setting of an hospital medical o...
Depression rating scales in Parkinson's disease: Critique and recommendations
Abstract Depression is a common comorbid condition in Parkinson's disease (PD) and a major contributor to poor quality of life and disability. However, depression can be difficu...
Clinical and neurobiological aspects of Asperger syndrome in six family studies
Asperger syndrome – whatever it is – cannot be dismissed at the drop of a hat as 'mild autism' and thereby relegated to the status of eccentricities in a textbook on child psych...
Publication Info
- Year
- 1968
- Type
- review
- Volume
- 124
- Issue
- 11S
- Pages
- 21-35
- Citations
- 34
- Access
- Closed
External Links
Social Impact
Altmetric
PlumX Metrics
Social media, news, blog, policy document mentions
Citation Metrics
34
OpenAlex
1
Influential
25
CrossRef
Cite This
Saul H. Rosenthal
(1968).
The Involutional Depressive Syndrome.
American Journal of Psychiatry
, 124
(11S)
, 21-35.
https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.124.11s.21
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.1176/ajp.124.11s.21
- PMID
- 4872232