Madness and Civilization, Michel Foucault

Aspects of Madness, p. 124-5 "At the end of the eighteenth century, all forms of madness...characterized by inertia, by despair, by a sort of dull stupor, would be readily classified as melancholia." [Symptoms of melancholia discussed as early as 1746 by James' Universal Dictionary of Medicine in which sufferers display pale complexion, opposition to nourishment, refusal to rise from their beds or walk without force, and while they do not avoid others or display signs of delirium, they seem to pay no attention to what is said to them or give positive answers.] "In this case, immobility and silence prevail and determine the diagnosis of melancholia...for they 'avoid company, prefer solitary places...they have a yellowish color...their eyes are dry, hollow, never moistened with tears...their face dark, expressing only horror and sadness."