How Was Major Depression Discovered

Major depression is not something that has come upon us suddenly. It has been known since antiquity. In fact there are a number of herbs that have been used as natural antidepressants even before it was properly understood mood disorder by modern doctors.

Major Depression Information

There is a lot of major depression information in ancient literature. Hippocrates himself has described major depression symptoms in his book, Aphorisms. Ancient doctors have been trying to figure out what exactly causes major depression for centuries, and even now we are not completely sure why exactly a person gets major depression symptoms.

Major Depression Symptoms

The major depression symptoms however have been fairly well documented what causes mood swings and in fact there are even a number of natural antidepressants that have been used to reduce the symptoms. Nowadays however the use of major depression medication is more prevalent, but in ancient times, any herb that brought about a good mood was used. In certain cultures, cannabis, a herb that is banned now, was used for this purpose.

The first official description as per most major depression information, of major depression was however by the German psychiatrist Emil Kraeplin around 1902. He described major depression symptoms and described as manic depressive psychosis.

At that time the understanding of depression in modern medicine was in its infancy, and most traditional knowledge was not considered.

The term depression itself is from a Latin word deprimere which means “to press down” which is almost an accurate description of major depression. For most of our history, the term depression was not used, instead major depression symptoms were described as melancholia. Yet in the mid 1600’s and 1700’s a few books did use the term depression in them.

Understanding Depression In General

Describing when exactly depression was discovered is therefore hard. We don’t even know when the word came into use. Even today major depression is not considered by many to be a serious disorder, and if it were not for the suicide risk or the risk of violence from those suffering from it, would probably be ignored by the medical profession altogether.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental disorders which is an encyclopedia of all mental disorders was first published in 1952 and did not include Major depression in it although it did include a few other depressive conditions.

It was only after its second revision that Major depression was included in it. The acceptance therefore of major depression in modern medicine therefore has been quite recent by any standards. Even now it takes on average 10 yrs before a person who has been suffering from depression to even visit the doctor, and even after that it takes the doctor up to 10 sessions before he or she can diagnose major depression. Major depression medication is then prescribed, but the follow up is not as good as it should be.

It almost seems like the medical profession is not that bothered with major depression as a mental disorder. Yet it is easily treatable. A few sessions of therapy or even some natural antidepressant pills will help a lot. The very fact that you are familiar with major depression information can be of help, and even if you cannot take major depression medication yourself, may help you pull yourself out of the blue funk that is characteristic of depression.