Melancholy - theoretically, it is easy to define it as a state of depression and feeling sad, but in practice it turns out that melancholy is associated with a lot of ambiguities. In the past, this was how depressive disorders were referred to, now the term is largely no longer used, but there is nevertheless the possibility of stumbling across the term "melancholic depression". So what is melancholy really and where does this term come from? Is melancholy a state of temporary sadness, or is it a serious disease? Who is a melancholic and is there (m) any difference between melancholy and depression?

What is melancholy?

Melancholia- this term has been used in human language for a very long time. It is derived from two Greek words: "molasses", which means "black", and "khole", which means bile. In such a case, the occurrence of melancholy would be associated with black bile.

But what would this substance be? The theory according to which melancholy would result from an excess of black bile in the body is directly related to the beliefs of people dealing with medical issues who lived before our era. Well, in those days it was believed that there are four liquids (humors) in human bodies: blood, mucus, bile and - mentioned above - black bile.

He alth in humans - according to the theory of the four fluids, also known as the humoral theory - would provide a balance between all of them. When there was an excess of any of the fluids, patients would face a variety of he alth problems. In a situation where the disturbance was related to the amount of black bile, people with this problem would experience melancholy.

Melancholy was already mentioned by Hippocrates, who is considered the father of medicine. According to him, the existence of this problem could be discussed in the case of those people who struggled with depression and various fears for a long time.

Sounds familiar - after all, this kind of ailments can be related to depressive disorders. Indeed, melancholy is closely related to depression, but the linkages between them are ultimately not as obvious as you might think.

Melancholia and depression

Nowadays, the term melancholy is already hereused rarely. Ailments that in the past were associated with melancholy are now treated as symptoms of various depressive disorders.

The feeling of sadness and depression may appear in the case of postpartum depression as well as depression in children or depressive disorders in the elderly. In the past, they would probably be called melancholy, today such problems are referred to as depressive disorders.

In fact, melancholy is a rather imprecise concept these days. This term is used to describe mild and transient mood disorders, such as episodes of short-term depression or the occurrence of quickly subsiding sadness.

On the other hand, it is possible to come across the term "melancholic depression", which in some sources is treated as one of the more severe forms of depression.

The term melancholic depression is sometimes defined as such depressive disorders in which the depressive symptoms are extremely severe (for example, patients struggle with severe anhedonia, they experience a strong decrease in appetite and significant sleep disorders).

It is also mentioned that melancholic depression is usually caused by some internal factors and in such situations it is treated as a variant of endogenous depression.

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Melancholy in culture

At one time, melancholy was the subject of interest of many people dealing with culture and art. It is for this reason, although certainly not all of us experience melancholy, most probably all (or at least those who read the required reading) have come across this phenomenon.

Problems related to melancholy could be noticed in one of Shakespeare's characters - we are talking about Hamlet here. Werther, the protagonist of Goethe's "The Suffering of Young Werther", also struggled with melancholy.

Who is the melancholic?

Theories about four different liquids were related not only to the phenomena of disease - they also focused on temperaments. Four of them were distinguished and they were choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic and melancholic temperaments.

As you can probably easily guess, melancholy people (i.e. people with a melancholy temperament) would primarily have a tendency to fall into a state of depressed mood.

Characteristic for them would also be a tendency to deeply analyze reality and experienced events, as well as perfection and the ability to make sacrifices.

Melancholies would also be oversensitive in manylife situations, and also easy to fall from extreme to extreme. Other features of melancholies include sensitivity and the ability to understand other people's problems, as well as creativity and taking seriously both their whole life and their various obligations.

Melancholy and seasons: why is autumn associated with melancholy?

Autumn is both sunny days when you can admire the rich color palette of the leaves on the trees, and the time when greyish afternoons are filled with rainfall.

One thing can certainly be admitted: the unpleasant aura outside the window does not fill you with optimism. It is for this reason that in autumn mood disorders occur more often - in some people they take the form of only mild depression, while in others they even take the intensity of a certain form of depressive disorders.

We are talking here about the so-called seasonal affective disorder (SAD), which is also sometimes treated as a form of melancholy - in the course of seasonal depression, depressive symptoms typically do not have a high intensity, and patients mainly struggle with feelings of depression and sadness.

Category:

Psychology