Definition and explanation of a term, object, process, or concept

Depression is a term that has multiple meanings. In an economic context, it can mean a continued, long-term decline in economic activity in one or several economies. Depression can also mean a landform that is depressed or sunken below the adjacent area. This definition is for geology and can be used to describe sinkholes. However, the focus of the meaning of the term depression will be examined through the psychological perspective. As defined in psychology, depression is a mood disorder causing an ongoing feeling of loss of interest and sadness. Depression can affect how one feels emotionally and physically, often requiring long-term treatment. This report aims to understand the word depression, its roots, and why it is being used today to categorize a mood disorder.

The word depression has been used for quite some time. When examined as a noun, is was first seen in the late 14th century from Old French and used as an astronomy term. It can also be directly derived from Latin in the form of depressionem. In the 1650's, the literal meaning of depression was 'dejection, depression of spirits' (Kipfer, 2008). By 1826, it was used to descrie reduced or lowered economic activity. It was around 1920 or 1934 that depression took on the meaning of melancholy, sadness, and began to be associated with a mood disorder (The Online Etymology Dictionary, 2017).

Regardless of its varied uses and changing meanings, depression has existed as how it is known now, for many years with philosophers describing depression as 'melancholia'. 'Melancholia' appeared as early as ancient Mesopotamia with written record detailing mental illnesses and its possible links to demonic possession. "This might refer to melancholia, a depression induced by a dominance of black-bile (mela/chole), at times manifested in an. .. a similar strategy of rationalization, though it largely appeals to Mesopotamian medical concepts, instead of Greek medicine" (Laes, 2017, p. 445). Although depression has most likely existed since humans could feel and socially interact, the earliest written records refer to such activity as 'demonic'.

Depression has been seen even in modern times as 'demonic'. Books like 25 Truths About Demons and Spiritual Warfare: Uncover the Hidden Effects of Demonic Influence by David Diga Hernandez talk of depression as work of demons and discusses Biblical references to demonic possession, linking these events to depression. People with depression are often shunned by society with many becoming homeless and/or poor. The Renaissance period brought reinforced notions that depression (melancholia) was due to a demonic activity and so purgatives were prescribed along with bloodletting.

During the age of Enlightenment, most of society believed depression was inherited and so went about locking and shunning those afflicted (Maines, 2001). If a woman was depressed, she may have been categorized into a different disorder altogether. During the late 19th century, depression took the form of 'hysteria'. Doctors often diagnosed women with depressive like moods with hysteria and provided them treatment in the form of orgasm.

When the vibrator emerged as an electromechanical medical instrument at the end of the nineteenth century, it evolved from previous massage technologies in response to demand from physicians for more rapid and efficient physical therapies, particularly for hysteria. Massage to orgasm of female patients was a staple of medical practice among some Western physicians from the time of Hippocrates until the 1920's . . . (Maines, 2001, p. 3).

The idea that depressive symptoms can be cured with orgasm may seem ludicrous in the present day. However, this was a common form of treatment for women experiencing hysteria. Examining the treatments of depressed individuals today, the aim is similar to the past treatments, relief. However, now the relief comes in the form of pills and talk therapy. Such relief allows people battling with depression to seek help not only because society has removed some of the stigma associated with depression, but also because the treatment options are less insane.

Insanity marks some of the meaning of depression. People associate those that are depressed as mentally ill. Earlier it was mentioned that depressed people were locked away during the 19th century and even in the 20th century. Although some people are institutionalized for chronic and manic depression, many suffer with depression and have been accepted despite their medical condition. Still, the word itself is thought of as pertaining to the act of being insane, of losing control.

Depression can be used to describe a sink hole. When a sink-hole forms, everything near it sinks with it, leading to a dark hole full of mess and debris. When people are depressed, many may feel like they are in a dark hole, pulling people around them into the dark hole. Numerous books and works of art have described depression as a dark hole, some even using the phrase, 'dark hole of despair'. Is it because it seems fruitless to try to cure depression? What is part of depression that generates such an abysmal and intense feeling?

Depression for what it is today, is to describe the lingering and persistent sadness that many frequently feel. Countless people have stated they feel depressed and are going through depression. Some even say they have battled depression for decades. A notable musician, Rick Springfield, battled with depression and sex addiction. "But Springfield's fame and outer affability belies a deep depression that the singer has battled since he was a child, he admitted on "Dr. Oz" this week. "I've gone pretty high at times so I think the ying yang of that is going pretty low" (Post 50, 2012).

These people aim to rid themselves of their sadness, but often cannot and so mark their struggles as depressive episodes. These episodes are what make people associate depression as a never-ending negative cycle. "Depression is, no doubt, a difficult condition that can't easily be cured. As the man floats in thinking, the depression starts" (Subba & Desh, 2014, p. 107). Such a perceived cycle offers additional meaning behind the term 'depression'. Earlier definitions of depression included lack of or a downturn. If depression lends a negative connotation, perhaps the reason depression exists to describe 'melancholia', is because it universally means lacking something.

When people lack something, they do not feel whole. Depression can mean that something is missing, making the person affected, feel incomplete. Passions, interests, hobbies, these are just pieces of a puzzle that is the human condition, the human being. When parts are missing or forgotten, the sadness that comes forth is regarded as depression.

Depression has long existed in many forms. The word itself has multiple meanings. Looking at the origins of depression and the various labels it went through before it became what it is now, shows the diversity of understanding of the term. Depression has existed amongst humans for what seems like forever to some. Hippocrates and other philosophers believed depression came from demonic activity. Some believed depression to be hysteria and prescribed orgasm inducing machines to help women overcome sad periods.

Whatever evolution has taken place, depression was and is a way to express downturn, an empty space. From the economic perspective, a depression is a recession, a lull in financial activity. From a geology perspective, it is a hole of sorts or indent. Yet still, even in these definitions, the word takes on a negative meaning. It means within each context, something lacking.

Depression ultimately occurs when something is lacking. People who are depressed lack something major in their lives. It may be hard to determine what that something is. That is why so many work towards identifying the causes of depression and modes of treatment. Medical treatment has come a long way from vibrators and bloodletting to pills and talk therapy. Still, depression is an ongoing problem that seems just shy of being solved. It is something that appears to always exist because it is a natural part of the human condition. What the human condition means, is something that probably no one could explain.

In conclusion, words are often used to express things in a layered manner. To be depressed is to lack something, to experience a decline. Those that are depressed often feel as though there is no way out of the 'hole' they put themselves in and so they continue to experience a sadness that does not seem to go away. Melancholia was the original name for depression. It then became hysteria and then depression.

Whether it has existed for millennia or recently discovered as a mental disorder, it continues to puzzle humans. Prior treatments to depression were often barbaric, cutting into the skin to bleed someone out. However, even today's treatment cannot seem to deal with the presuming underlying feeling depression stirs. The meaning behind depression is a complicated one. Like the human mind, it is hard to understand, much less interpret. This is why depression has been defined in so many ways and has been altered.

References

Kipfer, B. (2008). Roget's Descriptive Word Finder: A Dictionary/Thesaurus of Adjectives. Avon: F+W Media.

Laes, C. (2017). Disability in antiquity. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Maines, R. P. (2001). The technolgy of orgasm: Hysteria, the vibrator and women statisfaction. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

The Online Etymology Dictionary. (2017). Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=depression&allowed_in_frame=0

Post 50. (2012, October 15). Rick Springfield On Decades-Long Battle With Depression And Sex Addiction | HuffPost. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/15/rick-springfield-depressed_n_1962421.html

Subba, & Desh. (2014). Philosophy of Fearism: Life Is Conducted, Directed and Controlled by the Fear. Xlibris Corp.