involutional melancholia

noun

, Psychiatry.

1. (formerly) extreme depression related to menopause or, less frequently, the male climacteric.

Word History and Origins

Origin of involutional melancholia¹

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

Secretary of Defense James Forrestal committed suicide in 1949 while hospitalized for involutional melancholia.

From Time Magazine Archive

More astonishing than the play were the players : housewives and secretaries suffering from involutional melancholia or agitated schizophrenia, mechanics or plumbers in manic-depressive states.

From Time Magazine Archive

Doctors found him to be suffering from involutional melancholia and depressive psychosis.

From Time Magazine Archive

Allegedly ridden with involutional melancholia, depressive psychosis, and heart disease, Hoppy sucked cough drops to stave off a cold.

From Time Magazine Archive

We have not observed in our cases of involutional melancholia any undue tendency to give individual reactions.

From Project Gutenberg