Da melancolia dos dias cinzentos à depressão das noites sem fim

Abstract

The present article aims to make a distinction between depression and melancholy, by examining both the history of melancholy and the usage of these categories on the Freudian text. From our point of view, Freud employs the term melancholy to comprehend a mode of psychical functioning, the mode by which the psychic energy is operated when a loss event is experienced, which is responsible for the foundation of the subject. Depression, on the other hand, appears as a symptom in clinical profiles. Concerning the problem of depression in the present time, we believe that such phenomenon is a response to certain characteristics of postmodernity. By working with the concepts of culture of narcissism and the hypothesis of representational poverty, we intend to reflect on the increase of depression profiles in contemporary society.