Depression differs from melancholy by lacking all relation and attachment

Evidence

It is important to distinguish depression from melancholy. Melancholy is preceded by the experience of loss. Therefore it still stands in a relation—namely, negative relation—to the absent thing or party. In contrast, depression is cut off from all relation and attachment. It utterly lacks gravity [Schwerkraft]. — Byung-Chul Han, The Burnout Society, 115

Categorization

• DEFINE: Precise conceptual distinction between melancholy (negative relation to a lost object) and depression (no relation at all).
• XREF: connects to: Depression is a philosophical disposition, not merely sadness or a state of mind — Mark Fisher, Ghosts of My Life: Writings on…, 141; Objectless melancholia distinguishes depression from sadness in pop music — Mark Fisher, Ghosts of My Life: Writings on…, 137; Melancholia is a conscious refusal to adjust while depression is accommodation to decline — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 2289

Related

• Melancholia is a conscious refusal to adjust while depression is accommodation to decline (similarity 0.88)
• Objectless melancholia distinguishes depression from sadness in pop music (similarity 0.81)
• Depression is a philosophical disposition, not merely sadness or a state of mind (similarity 0.81)