Depression diagnosis shifted from causes to observable subtypes around 1975

Evidence

Two descriptive levels were necessary to describe the changes on the medical front. First, there was general medicine: epidemiology was better able to identify the complaints and the reasons for consultation; new antidepressants were perfected, easier to use, and had effects different from those previously on the market; and two clinical signs, anxiety and inhibition, began to redefine depression. Second, there were the diagnostic models: tripartite depression (endogenous, psychogenic, exogenous), based on an etiological diagnosis, was gradually abandoned. A description of subtypes took its place, grouped together in syndromic categories that were refined and, as far as possible, standardized. — Alain Ehrenberg, The Weariness of the Self, 627

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Depression theory is split between guilt-based and deficiency-based models. — Alain Ehrenberg, The Weariness of the Self: Diagnosing…, 171; Depression subtyping proceeded by biology and classification, not etiology — Alain Ehrenberg, The Weariness of the Self: Diagnosing…, 660; Dysthymia replaced neurotic depression, opening chemical personality therapy — Alain Ehrenberg, The Weariness of the Self: Diagnosing…, 874 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Psychology and psychiatry co-evolved with changing norms of the self #expands (0.78) — Alain Ehrenberg, The Weariness of the Self, 730