Author: Evans, Kathleen M.
Title: ‘Interrupted by fits of weeping’, Cicero’s Major Depressive Disorder and the death of Tullia
Review/Collection: History of Psychiatry, Vol. 18, No. 1
Year edition: 2007
Pages: 81-102
Keywords: Biographie - Biografia - Biography
Description: [Abstract] The letters of Marcus Tullius Cicero (10643 BC), the Roman statesman, lawyer, orator and author, were analysed as part of a larger study that systematically examined ancient Greek and Roman literature to recover descriptions of mental illness. A degree of necessar y caution was exercised, but the wealth of material revealed in the letters about Cicero's physical and emotional state enable a diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder to be made with some certainty according to the DSM-IV-TR. Cicero appears to have experienced increasingly severe bouts of suicidal depression that seriously impaired his relationships with his friends, family and political colleagues, and possibly shortened his life. His last depressive episode following the death of his daughter Tullia is addressed here in some detail. [Bio] K. Evans : Griffith University, Australia.
Author initials: Evans 2007
Title: ‘Interrupted by fits of weeping’, Cicero’s Major Depressive Disorder and the death of Tullia
Review/Collection: History of Psychiatry, Vol. 18, No. 1
Year edition: 2007
Pages: 81-102
Keywords: Biographie - Biografia - Biography
Description: [Abstract] The letters of Marcus Tullius Cicero (10643 BC), the Roman statesman, lawyer, orator and author, were analysed as part of a larger study that systematically examined ancient Greek and Roman literature to recover descriptions of mental illness. A degree of necessar y caution was exercised, but the wealth of material revealed in the letters about Cicero's physical and emotional state enable a diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder to be made with some certainty according to the DSM-IV-TR. Cicero appears to have experienced increasingly severe bouts of suicidal depression that seriously impaired his relationships with his friends, family and political colleagues, and possibly shortened his life. His last depressive episode following the death of his daughter Tullia is addressed here in some detail. [Bio] K. Evans : Griffith University, Australia.
Author initials: Evans 2007
