Endogenous/Melancholic Depression

Endogenous/Melancholic Depression
Within the heterogenous profile of depression, it has always been assumed that endogenous depression was likely to be closest to a disease entity.

Consequently, the investigation of endogenous/melancholic depression and its distinction from other sub-types have been a main focus for studies of symptom variation.

While neurotic depressions are often regarded as milder states of heterogenous nature and course, it has been assumed that endogenous depression is somehow one thing or (core) entity and that careful description associated with a variety of statistical and other techniques will illuminate it.

An early set of criteria for identifying endogenous depression was developed by the Newcastle group and other research criteria.

The Newcastle scale assigns various weights to different symptoms due to the idea that these symptoms were associated with good outcome.

Since the advent of the Newcastle scale, other classifications have appeared. The most well known being the DSM-111-R criteria for melancholia.

Unlike the Newcastle endogenous depression scale, symptoms of melancholia (DSM-111-R) are not given weights.

Thus the idea of a hierarchy of symptoms (i.e. some symptoms are more keys or core) is not found here.
Endogenous/Melancholic Depression