Citing Hippocrates on depression in epilepsy.

Citing Hippocrates on depression in epilepsy. Epilepsy Behav. 2018 Nov 27;90:31-36 Authors: Hoppe C Abstract OBJECTIVES: When writing about the bidirectional etiological relationship between depression and epilepsy, neuropsychiatrists often cite Lewis (1934) [Lewis AJ. Melancholia: a historical review. Journal of Mental Science 1934; 80: 1-42] who cited Hippocrates - namely, "melancholics ordinarily become epileptics, and epileptics, melancholics". In this paper, the complicated reference for this citation from Lewis (1934) was critically reappraised. METHODS: The Greek-Latin edition of Hippocratic writings by Ermerins to which Lewis (1934) referred and most volumes of the standard Greek-English edition of the Hippocratic writings in The Loeb Classical Library were freely available as facsimile pdf documents in the Internet Archive (archive.org). RESULTS: Melancholia (i.e., "the black bile disease") is defined as a persistent mental state of fear and sadness ("Aphorisms", section 6, aphorism 23) which appears more consistent with a dysthymic disorder or depressive personality disorder than an acute (episodic) depressive disorder. Confusingly, the term melancholia also signifies a humoral etiology, namely a surplus of black bile, which causes several distinct diseases including epilepsy (aphorism vi/56). The quote addressing the conversion of melancholia into epilepsy and vice versa was taken from the writing "Epidemic...
Source: Epilepsy and Behaviour - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Epilepsy Behav Source Type: research