Note:
Below you will find a few suggestions for searching this topic. These suggestions aren't the only way to find materials, but they may help to get you started.
Depression
I. Find Background Information
- International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences
Note: There is a section concerning historical background. - DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)
Open Section II: Diagnostic Criteria and Codes and Depressive Disorders to read description of Major Depressive Disorder. It may be useful to read the entire section on Depressive Disorders to understand the broad scope of disorders within the topic of depression. - Previous Editions of the DSM.
It can also be useful to search previous editions of the DSM to find out when Depression first appeared in the manual and how the description may have changed.
Note: These are pdfs. Open the links and use Ctrl F to search for the term “Depression” or "Depress" in the manual. Note the sections in which sections these terms appear.
II. Search the Library Catalog
To find scientific (medical/psychiatric) texts, histories, and “popular” materials (written for non-specialists) along with some primary sources (memoirs, autobiographies) :
- Open the Library Catalog
- Start with "Depression, Mental" and use the pull-down menu to select [Subject]
- See also: "Depressed Persons"
- Note: For more precise searching, you can also "Limit Your Search" (left-hand menu) by "Subject" and "more," to see all the subheadings (for example, “Diagnosis” or “History” or "Biography")
III. Find current Scholarly Journal Articles (secondary sources)
- PsycInfo
Suggested search terms to start:
Depressive Disorder;
[and] history
IV. Find current “popular” (i.e. written for the general public, rather than for specialists) articles about Depression.
Proquest Research Library
Depression can also refer to economic hardship (economic depression). To exclude those articles, type in the term "depression" on the first line, On the second line, use the pull-down menu to select NOT and add the term, "economic."
From the list of results, filter to Magazines; and select a time period;
Under Publication Titles, select "more" to select specific magazines.
Depression
[Not] Economic
V. Are there historical newspaper and popular magazine articles about depression?
(Remember: You may need to search some of the earlier terms, e.g. Melancholia
- Proquest Historical Newspapers
Select the Advanced Search;
Add your search terms, for example, Melancholia;
Scroll down to choose Document types;
If you wish use the date limits on the left to restrict your results to a particular date range. - American Periodicals
This database contains periodicals published between 1740 and 1940, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines and many other historically-significant periodicals. Search tips:
Select the Advanced Search;
Add your search terms;
Scroll down to choose Document type(s);
Adjust date ranges, if desired.
VI. Find more articles about the history of Depression
Here it may be helpful to include alternate search terms that were used in the past to describe the disorder, like Melancholy or Depressive Disorder. You will also want to filter out the articles relating to depression in the economic sense.
- History of Science, Technology & Medicine
Suggested search terms to start:
On the first line, type in the term "depression;"
On the next line, leave the drop down menu at AND, and type in the term, "melancholy;"
On the next line, leave the drop down menu at AND, and type in the term, "history; "
On the last line, change the drop-down menu to NOT and type in the term "economic;"