Melancholia: from Hamlet

Melancholia

IVt melancholia is a disease unique in the fact that every human heing wh0 }las reached that stage of his existence which can called the battle of life can enter into and appreciate to a ?reater or less degree the subjective sensations of the sufferer 0rn this complaint, by reason of having, however temporarily, Passed through periods of mental depression himself. Lucky lrideed is the man who c...

Resurrecting melancholia.

OBJECTIVE To define melancholia as a distinct mood disorder, identified by unremitting depressed mood, vegetative dysfunction, and psychomotor disturbances, verifiable by neuroendocrine tests, and treatable by electroconvulsive therapy and tricyclic antidepressants. METHOD A review of the literature of two centuries finds descriptions of severe mood disorders, either depression or mania or ci...

Quantum Hamlet Effect

In this work, by use of a formalism similar to formalism of the quantum Zeno effect (decrease of the decay probability of an unstable quantum system by frequent measurements) and quantum anti-Zeno effect (increase of the decay probability of an unstable quantum system by frequent measurements), we introduce so-called quantum Hamlet effect. It represents a complete destruction of the quantum pre...

Melancholia: past and present.

OBJECTIVE To investigate commonalities in the clinical presentation of melancholia over time. METHOD I conducted a comparative study to 2 epidemiologically complete databases from 1875-1924 and 1995-2005. RESULTS Patients in the historical period (1875-1924, compared with 1995-2005) with a diagnosis of melancholia show a classic profile of endogenous onset, with remission after 6 months, ne...

Melancholia and Depression: From Hippocratic Times to Modern Times (1986).