Depression, Mental--History, Depressive Disorder, Depressive Disorder--history 

Editorial Reviews From Library Journal Although scholars may eagerly read this "first comprehensive history of depression in English," clinicians, patients, concerned relatives, and informed laypersons will probably find it jargonistic, confusing, and of little practical use. Tracing depression as a syndrome over the past 2500 years, Yale psychiatrist/psychoanalyst Jackson finds that despite a variety of causative theories, treatments, and classifications, the symptoms have a "remarkable consistency and . . . coherence." The detailed exposition includes excerpts from medical texts and the views of luminaries like Freud, Aristotle, and Samuel Johnson. Also discussed is the relationship of hypochondria, mourning, religion, love-melancholy, and nostalgia to depression. A well-indexed and well-documented reference work suitable for research collections.Janice Arenofsky, formerly with Arizona State Lib., Phoenix Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.