Depression

sad, dismayed, sleepless. . . . They become thin by their agitation and loss of refreshing sleep. . . . At a more advanced stage, they complain of a thousand futilities and desire death.

It is noteworthy that Aretaeus specifically delineated the manic-depressive cycle

He also referred to swings similar to mania and depression

number of ancient writers under the classification of “melancholia.”

Major depressive disorder is the leading cause of disability in the established market economies around the world.7

the population age 18 or older) in a given year suffer from some form of depressive disorder.

The National Institute of Mental Health (USA)7 reports that 18.8 million American adults (9.5 percent of

10–25 percent for females.

Worldwide, Murray and Lopez3 found unipolar major depression to be the leading cause of disability in 1990, measured in years lived with a disability. Unipolar depression accounted for more than one in every ten years of life lived with a disability.

According to Kline,1 more human suffering has resulted from depression than from any other single disease affecting humankind.