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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.

History of human medicine --- Psychiatry --- World history --- History of the United Kingdom and Ireland --- History of Eastern Europe --- psychiatrie --- geneeskunde --- geschiedenis --- sociale geschiedenis --- Europese geschiedenis --- Social history. --- Medicine—History. --- Psychiatry. --- Great Britain—History. --- Medicine and psychology --- Mental health --- Psychology, Pathological --- Descriptive sociology --- Social conditions --- Social history --- History --- Sociology --- Social History --- History of Medicine --- History of Britain and Ireland --- Mood disorders --- Psychiatric illness --- Physiology --- Psychology --- Statistical and diagnostic practices --- Asylum records --- Insanity --- Madness --- Mental pain --- Suicidal tendencies --- Psychological distress --- Open Access --- Social & cultural history --- History of medicine --- European history --- Depression, Mental --- Melancholy