You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
The excellent clinical study by Reis on depressions takes the point of view that there is no sharp borderline between psychogenic depressions and depressions which belong to manic-depressive psychoses and involutional melancholia. (We shall speak about melancholia when we mean a picture belonging to the manic-depressive group. The so-called involutional melancholia, in my opinion, belongs to the manic-depressive group and is only tinged by involutional factors.) This view was rather generally accepted in Germany. Only recently Kurt Schneider and Lange have said that there is a fundamental psychological difference insofar as the non-psychogenic depression shows a vital depression and inhibition in the actual feelings of the body. They miss this deep-seated inhibition in psychogenic depression.
I do not believe that this differentiation is justified, but it is true that, from a clinical point of view, there are many different types of depression. I shall first give a sketchy enumeration of some of these types. The psychological meaning of some of them will be discussed later. (1) There is a prolonged sadness after the death of beloved persons. It is well known that depths and duration of grief after a loss of love objects varies in different individuals. (2) There are depressions with some inhibitions which follow disagreeable and depressing situations of any kind. They pass away after weeks or months. There is some degree of inhibition, some more or less complaining, and the feeling that joy is gone from life. (3) This depressive attitude may continue for a very long time and may practically