This open access book maps a crucial but neglected chapter in the history of psychiatry: how was melancholia transformed in the nineteenth century from traditional melancholy madness into a modern biomedical mood disorder, paving the way for the emergence of clinical depression as a psychiatric illness in the twentieth century?

1. Introduction: Disordered Mood as Historical Problem.- 2. The Scientific Foundation of Disordered Mood.- 3. The Classification of Melancholia in Mid-Nineteenth-Century British Medicine.- 4. Melancholia and the New Biological Psychiatry.- 5. Statistics, Classification, and the Standardisation of Melancholia.- 6. Diagnosing Melancholia in the Victorian Asylum.- 7. Conclusion: Melancholia, Depression, and the Politics of Classification.

This open access book maps a crucial but neglected chapter in the history of psychiatry: how was melancholia transformed in the nineteenth century from traditional melancholy madness into a modern biomedical mood disorder, paving the way for the emergence of clinical depression as a psychiatric illness in the twentieth century? At a time when the prevalence of mood disorders and antidepressant consumption are at an all-time high, the need for a comprehensive historical understanding of how modern depressive illness came into being has never been more urgent. This book addresses a significant gap in existing scholarly literature on melancholia, depression, and mood disorders by offering a contextualised and critical perspective on the history of melancholia in the first decades of psychiatry, from the 1830s until the turn of the twentieth century. 

“A thought-provoking read, the book draws on a range of sources, including medical and psychiatric textbooks, lunacy commission records, asylum records, and journal articles, to demonstrate how melancholia was made into a modern biomedical mood disorder. … Jansson's work provides a timely, fresh, and important contribution to the history of psychiatry and mental health more broadly.” (Lynsey Cullen, H-Net Reviews, h-net.org, July, 2021)“At a time when the prevalence of mood disorders and antidepressant consumption are at an all-time high, the need for a comprehensive historical understanding of how modern depressive illness came into being has never been more urgent. This book addresses a significant gap in existing scholarly literature on melancholia, depression, and mood disorders by offering a contextualised and critical perspective on the history of melancholia in the first decades of psychiatry, from the 1830s until the turn of the twentieth century.” (Filippo M. Sposini, H-Madness, historypsychiatry.com, March 31, 2021)

Offers much-needed historical perspectives on the emergence of modern depressive illness Explores how melancholia was transformed in the nineteenth century from melancholy ‘madness’ to a modern biomedical mood disorder Draws on a range of sources, including asylum records, medical textbooks and articles, statistical reports, and directives from the British Lunacy Commission This book is open access, which means that you have free and unlimited access

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