Willmuth L R
J Am Geriatr Soc. 1979 Nov;27(11):495-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1979.tb01736.x.
Ancient Greek and Roman physicians recognized the high prevalence of depressive illness in old age and began to differentiate the major mental syndromes of the elderly. Greek humoral theory connected black bile, melancholia and old age, and this formulation dominated medical thinking until the seventeenth century. Beginning with the Enlightenment and continuing throughout most of the nineteenth century, physicians spurned the idea that old age and depression were linked, or tended to view depression as evidence of brain decay. Although twentieth century studies have confirmed that depression in the elderly is a common illness, usually self-limiting and rarely coexisting with dementia, these views have been incompletely incorporated into modern medical practice.
古希腊和古罗马的医生认识到老年抑郁症的高发病率，并开始区分老年人的主要精神综合征。希腊体液学说将黑胆汁、忧郁症和老年联系在一起，这种表述在医学思想中占据主导地位，直到17世纪。从启蒙运动开始并贯穿19世纪的大部分时间，医生们摒弃了老年与抑郁症有关的观点，或者倾向于将抑郁症视为大脑衰退的证据。尽管20世纪的研究证实老年抑郁症是一种常见疾病，通常会自我缓解，很少与痴呆症共存，但这些观点尚未完全融入现代医学实践。
