Other Names:
Melancholia

Symptoms:
There are a great variety of possible symptoms: The mental attitude is calm and somewhat aloof. There may be easy laughing and crying; episodes of emotionalism, possibly without any apparent explanation, and even occurring in sleep. The problem may, or may not, be psychotic in nature.

In some cases, fugues occur. These are episodes when the person takes on a different personality, name, etc., leaves and goes somewhere else for a time. When the primary personality returns, there is a forgetting of the secondary state. But this problem is not the same as the psychotic condition, known as schizophrenia—in which there is a splitting in personality, incongruities, and confusion co-exist in a person at the same time.

Cause:
There may be an emotional instability, various sensory disturbances, and a marked craving for sympathy which sometimes leads to unusual words, actions, and activities.

Hysteria (melancholia) can result from post-menstrual syndrome, food allergies, hypoglycemia, prescribed or illegal drugs, or alcoholism.

Treatment:
• Place the person on a nourishing diet, avoiding all junk food.

• Test for allergies (see "Allergies" and "Pulse Test").

• Give a 6-hour glucose tolerance test.

• Keep a daily diary, to test for PMS. Look in a Physician's Desk Reference, to locate drugs which might be causing problems.

• Take the vitamins and minerals needed, to build strong nerves (see "Nerves, Strengthening").

• Place the person in a quiet place, devoid of spectators. Give cold applications to the head, face, and neck. Quiet, firm suggestions are important.