Melancholia (from Greek μελαγχολία - melagcholia^[1], also called lugubriousness), in contemporary usage, is a mood disorder of non-specific depression, characterized by low levels of enthusiasm and eagerness for activity. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly A mood disorder is the term given for a group of diagnoses in the DSM IV TR classification system where a disturbance in the person's emotional mood is hypothesised In the fields of Psychology and Psychiatry, the terms depression or depressed refer to both expected and pathologically chronic or severe In a modern context, "melancholy" applies only to the mental or emotional symptoms of depression or despondency; historically, "melancholia" could be physical as well as mental, and melancholic conditions were classified as such by their common cause rather than by their properties. Similarly, melancholia in ancient usage also encompassed mental disorders which would later be differentiated as schizophrenias or bipolar disorders. Schizophrenia ( from the Greek roots schizein (σχίζειν "to split" and phrēn

Contents 1 History 2 The cult of melancholia 3 Melancholy in Arab culture 4 See also 5 Footnotes 6 Other notes 7 References 8 External links

History

The name "melancholia" comes from the old medical theory of the four humours: disease being caused by an imbalance in one or other of the four basic bodily fluids, or humours. The word theory has many distinct meanings in different fields of Knowledge, depending on their methodologies and the context of discussion. Humorism, or humoralism, was a theory of the makeup and workings of the human body adopted by Greek and Roman physicians and philosophers Personality types were similarly determined by the dominant humour in a particular person. Melancholia was caused by an excess of black bile; hence the name, which means 'black bile' (Ancient Greek μέλας, melas, "black", + χολή, kholé, "bile"); a person whose constitution tended to have a preponderance of black bile had a melancholic disposition. Bile or gall is a bitter yellow or green Alkaline fluid secreted by Hepatocytes from the Liver of most Vertebrates In many species The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage in the development of the Hellenic language family spanning the Archaic (c See also: sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric

Melancholia was described as a distinct disease with particular mental and physical symptoms in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Sanguine refers to a reddish often tending to brown color of Chalk used in Drawing. Erich Adickes, Eduard Spränger, Ernst Kretschmer, and Erich Fromm all theorized on the four temperaments (with different names and greatly Erich Adickes, Eduard Spränger, Ernst Kretschmer, and Erich Fromm all theorized on the four temperaments (with different names and greatly A disease is an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions and can be deadly The 5th century BC started the first day of 500 BC and ended the last day of 401 BC. The 4th century BC started the first day of 400 BC and ended the last day of 301 BC. Hippocrates, in his Aphorisms, characterized all "fears and despondencies, if they last a long time" as being symptomatic of melancholia. Hippocrates of Cos II or Hippokrates of Kos ( ca. 460 BC – ca ^[2]

In the medieval Islamic world, the Muslim psychologist Ishaq ibn Imran (d. 908), known as "Isaac" in the West, wrote an essay entitled Maqala fi-l-Malikhuliya, in which discovered a type of melancholia: the "cerebral type" or "phrenitis". An essay is usually a short piece of writing It is often written from an author's personal point of view. Phrenitis was employed in ancient Greece by Hippocrates and his followers He carried out a diagnosis on this mental disorder, describing its varied symptoms. Diagnosis is the identification by Process of elimination, of the nature of anything Mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern that occurs in an individual and is thought to cause distress or disability that is not expected as The main clinical features he identified were sudden movement, foolish acts, fear, delusions and hallucinations. A jester, joker, jokester, fool, wit-cracker, prankster, or buffoon is a member of a profession that came into popularity Fear is an Emotional response to Threats and Danger. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific Stimulus, such as A delusion is commonly defined as a fixed False Belief and is used in everyday language to describe a belief that is either false fanciful or derived from Deception A hallucination, in the broadest sense is a Perception in the absence of a stimulus. ^[3] In Arabic, he referred to this mood disorder as "malikhuliya", which Constantine the African translated into Latin as "melancolia", from which the English term "melancholia" is derived. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language A mood disorder is the term given for a group of diagnoses in the DSM IV TR classification system where a disturbance in the person's emotional mood is hypothesised Constantine the African ( Latin Constantinus Africanus c 1020 Carthage or Sicily&ndash1087 monastery of Monte Cassino, near Cassino Principality Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. ^[4]

Ali ibn Abbas al-Majusi (d. Ali ibn Abbas al-Majusi (died 982-994 also known as Masoudi or Latinized as Haly Abbas, was a Persian Physician and 982) discussed mental illness in his medical encyclopedia, Kitab al-Malaki, which was translated into Latin as Liber pantegni, where he discovered and observed another type of melancholia: clinical lycanthropy, associated with certain personality disorders. The Liber pantegni (παντεχνη " all arts" is a medieval medical text compiled by Constantinus Africanus in ca Clinical lycanthropy is defined as a rare Psychiatric syndrome which involves a Delusion that the affected person can or has transformed into an Animal, Personality disorder, formerly referred to as a Character Disorder is a class of mental disorders characterized by rigid and on-going patterns of feeling thinking and behavior He wrote the following on this particular type of melancholia: "Its victim behaves like a rooster and cries like a dog, the patient wanders among the tombs at night, his eyes are dark, his mouth is dry, the patient hardly ever recovers and the disease is hereditary. "^[3]

In the The Canon of Medicine (1020s), Avicenna dealt with neuropsychiatry and described a number of neuropsychiatric conditions, including melancholia. The Canon of Medicine ( Arabic: القانون في الطب Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb " The Law of Medicine " Persian TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> ( Persian /ابو علی الحسین ابن عبدالله ابن سینا (born Neuropsychiatry is the branch of Medicine dealing with Mental disorders attributable to diseases of the Nervous system. ^[5] He described melancholia as a depressive type of mood disorder in which the person may become suspicious and develop certain types of phobias. In the fields of Psychology and Psychiatry, the terms depression or depressed refer to both expected and pathologically chronic or severe A mood disorder is the term given for a group of diagnoses in the DSM IV TR classification system where a disturbance in the person's emotional mood is hypothesised Phobias Phobias (in the clinical meaning of the term are the most common form of Anxiety disorders An American study by the National Institute of Mental Health ^[6] The Canon of Medicine was also translated into Latin in the 12th century.

The most extended treatment of melancholia comes from Robert Burton, whose The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621) treats the subject from both a literary and a medical perspective. Robert Burton ( 8 February 1577 – 25 January 1640) was a English Scholar and Vicar at Oxford University The Anatomy of Melancholy (Full title The Anatomy of Melancholy What it is With all the Kinds Causes Symptomes Prognostickes and Several Cures of it Perspective in theory of Cognition is the choice of a context or a Reference (or the result of this choice from which to Sense, Categorize Burton wrote in the 16th century that music and dance were critical in treating mental illness, especially melancholia. ^[7][8][9] In November 2006, Dr. Michael J. Crawford ^[10] and his colleagues again found that music therapy helped the outcomes of Schizophrenic patients. Schizophrenia ( from the Greek roots schizein (σχίζειν "to split" and phrēn ^[11]

A famous allegorical engraving by Albrecht Dürer is entitled Melencolia I. An allegory (from αλλος allos "other" and el αγορευειν agoreuein "to speak in public" is a figurative mode of representation Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it Albrecht Dürer (ˈalbʀɛçt ˈdyʀɐ ( May 21, 1471 &ndash April 6, 1528) was a German painter, Printmaker Melencolia I, sometimes known as Melancholia I (using the modern spelling is an Engraving by the German Renaissance master Albrecht This engraving portrays melancholia as the state of waiting for inspiration to strike, and not necessarily as a depressive affliction. Amongst other allegorical symbols, the picture includes a magic square, and a truncated rhombohedron [2]. In Recreational mathematics, a magic square of order n is an arrangement of n ² numbers usually distinct Integers in a square, such See also Rhombohedral - Crystal system The image in turn inspired a passage in The City of Dreadful Night by James Thomson (B.V.), and, a few years later, a sonnet by Edward Dowden. The City of Dreadful Night is a long poem by the Scottish poet James "B James Thomson ( November 23, 1834 &mdash June 3, 1882) published under the pseudonym Bysshe Vanolis, was a Scottish Victorian-era Edward Dowden ( May 3, 1843 – April 4, 1913) was an Irish Critic and Poet.

The cult of melancholia

During the early 17th century, a curious cultural and literary cult of melancholia arose in England. As a means of recording the passage of Time, the 17th Century was that Century which lasted from 1601 - 1700 in the Gregorian calendar England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland It was believed that religious uncertainties caused by the English Reformation and a greater attention being paid to issues of sin, damnation, and salvation, led to this effect. A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th century England by which the Church of England first broke away from the authority of the Pope Sin is a term used mainly in a religious context to describe an act that violates a moral Rule, or the state of having committed such a violation Dammit redirects here to see the Opeth album see Damnation (album. In Theology, salvation can mean three related things being saved from or Liberation from something such as Suffering or the punishment of

In music, the post-Elizabethan cult of melancholia is associated with John Dowland, whose motto was Semper Dowland, semper dolens. John Dowland (1563 &ndash buried February 20, 1626) was an English Composer, singer and Lutenist He is best known today for his ("Always Dowland, always mourning. ") The melancholy man, known to contemporaries as a "malcontent," is epitomized by Shakespeare's Prince Hamlet, the "Melancholy Dane. Hamlet is a Tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601 " Another literary expression of this cultural mood comes from the death-obsessed later works of John Donne. John Donne (pronounced like done, dʌn 1572 – 31 March 1631 was a Jacobean poet preacher and a major representative of the Metaphysical poets Other major melancholic authors include Sir Thomas Browne, and Jeremy Taylor, whose Hydriotaphia, Urn Burial and Holy Living and Holy Dying, respectively, contain extensive meditations on death. Sir Thomas Browne ( October 19, 1605 &ndash October 19, 1682) was an English author of varied works which disclose his wide learning Jeremy Taylor ( 1613 - 13 August, 1667) was a Clergyman in the Church of England who achieved fame as an author during The Protectorate Hydriotaphia Urn Burial or a Discourse of the Sepulchral Urns lately found in Norfolk, is a work by Sir Thomas Browne, published in 1658 as the first Holy Living and Holy Dying is the collective title of two books of Christian devotion by Jeremy Taylor.

A similar phenomenon, though not under the same name, occurred during Romanticism, with such works as The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe or Ode on Melancholy by John Keats. Romanticism is a complex artistic literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the The Sorrows of Young Werther ( Die Leiden des jungen Werthers) is an epistolary and loosely Autobiographical Novel by Johann Wolfgang ˈjoːhan ˈvɔlfgaŋ fɔn ˈgøːtə (in English generally ˈgɝːtə 28 August 1749 22 March 1832 was a German writer

In the 20th century, much of the counterculture of modernism was fueled by comparable alienation and a sense of purposelessness called "anomie. The twentieth century of the Common Era began on Modernism describes an array of Cultural movements rooted in the changes in Western society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century In Sociology and Critical social theory, alienation refers to an individual's estrangement from traditional community and others in general Anomie, in contemporary English language is a sociological term that signifies in individuals an erosion diminution or absence of personal norms standards or values "

Melancholy in Arab culture

The Arabic word found as ḥuzn and ḥazan in the Qur'an and hüzün in modern Turkish refers to the pain and sorrow over a loss, death of relatives in the case of the Qur'an. The Qur’an ( القرآن, literally "the recitation" also sometimes transliterated as Qur’ān, Koran, Alcoran Two schools further interpreted this feeling. The first sees it as a sign that one is too attached to the material world, while Sufism took it to represent a feeling of personal insuffiency, that one was not getting close enough to God and did not or could not do enough for God in this world. Sufism ( تصوّف - taṣawwuf, Persian: صوفی‌گری sufigari, Turkish: tasavvuf, Urdu: تصوف ^[12] The Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk in the book Istanbul^[12] further elaborates on the added meaning hüzün has acquired in modern Turkish. Ferit Orhan Pamuk (born on 7 June 1952 in Istanbul) generally known simply as Orhan Pamuk, is a Turkish Novelist and professor of Comparative It has come to denote a sense of failure in life, lack of initiative and to retreat into oneself, symptoms quite similar to melancholia. According to Pamuk it was a defining character of cultural works from Istanbul after the fall of the Ottoman empire. Istanbul (historically Byzantium and later Constantinople; see the other Names of Istanbul) is the largest city of Turkey The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish One may see similarities with how melancholic romantic paintings in the west sometimes used ruins from the age of the Roman empire as a backdrop. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial

As a parallel with physicians of classical Greece, ancient Arabic physicians and psychologists also categorized ḥuzn as a disease. Al-Kindi (c. ( أبو يوسف يعقوب إبن إسحاق الكندي) (c 801–873 CE) links it with disease-like mental states like anger, passion, hatred and depression, while Avicenna (980–1037 CE) diagnosed ḥuzn in a lovesick man if his pulse increased drastically when the name of the girl he loved was spoken. TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> ( Persian /ابو علی الحسین ابن عبدالله ابن سینا (born ^[13] Avicenna suggests, in remarkable similarity with Robert Burton, many causes for melancholy, including the fear of death, intrigues surrounding one's life, and lost love. As remedies, he recommends treatments addressing both the medical and philosophical sources of the melancholy, including rational thought, morale, discipline, fasting and coming to terms with the catastrophe.

The various uses of ḥuzn and hüzün thus describe melancholy from a certain vantage point, show similarities with Female hysteria in the case of Avicenna's patient and in a religious context it is not unlike sloth, which by Dante was defined as "failure to love God with all one's heart, all one's mind and all one's soul". Female hysteria was a once-common medical diagnosis made exclusively in women which is today no longer recognized by modern medical authorities as a medical disorder The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, are a classification of Vices that were originally used in early Christian Thomas Aquinas described sloth as "an oppressive sorrow, which, to wit, so weighs upon man's mind, that he wants to do nothing". ^[14]

See also

• Depression (mood)
• Dysthymia
• Nostalgia
• Saudade

Footnotes

Other notes

• Melancholia is a specific form of mental illness characterized by depressed mood, abnormal motor functions, and abnormal vegetative signs. Ferit Orhan Pamuk (born on 7 June 1952 in Istanbul) generally known simply as Orhan Pamuk, is a Turkish Novelist and professor of Comparative It has been identified in medical writings from antiquity and was best characterized in the 19th Century. In the 20th Century, with the interest in psychoanalytic writing, "major depression" became the principal class in psychiatric classifications. [See Taylor MA, Fink M: MELANCHOLIA for details of history. ]

• In 1996, Gordon Parker and Dusan Hadzi-Pavlovic described Melancholia as a specific disorder of movement and mood. [Melancholia" A Disorder of Movement and Mood, Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press, 1996]. More recently, MA Taylor and M Fink crystallized the present image of melancholia as a systemic disorder that is identifiable by depressive mood rating scales, verified by the present of abnormal cortisol metabolism (abnormal dexamethasone suppression test), and validated by rapid and effective remission with ECT or tricyclic antidepressant agents. It has many forms, including retarded depression, psychotic depression, post-partum depression and psychosis, abnormal bereavement.

References

• Fink M, Taylor MA. Resurrecting melancholia. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 2007; Supplement 433: 14-20. The Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica is a Scandinavian Peer reviewed Scientific journal containing Original research, Systematic
• Morelon, Régis & Roshdi Rashed (1996), Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science, Routledge, ISBN 0415124107
• Taylor MA, Fink M. The Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science is a three-volume Encyclopedia covering the history of Arabic contributions to science, mathematics Routledge is a publisher of non-fiction academic books and journals Melancholia: The Diagnosis, Pathophysiology and Treatment of Depressive Illness. Cambridge UK: Cambridge Universwity Press, 2003.

External links

• Grunwald Center website: Durer's Melencolia and clinical depression, iconography and printmaking techniques
• "Dürer's Melancholia": sonnet by Edward Dowden
• Melancholy and abstraction, on the Berlin exhibition "Melancholy: Genius and Madness in Art"
• Diderot's historic writing on Melancholy - translated into English by Matthew Chozick

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic