Abstract :
The concept of mood disorders dates back to
eternity. This long history of the emotions and their
disorders has a fascinating journey. As with any history
concerned with disease concepts,the conceptual
history of mood disorders must be scrutinised through
close attention to nosological texts in tracing how
categories were created how they evolved over the
time. This article covers the evolution of the concept of
mood disorders and its journey from the Hippocratic
era to the Kraepelins dichotomization between
dementia praecox (schizophrenia) and manicdepressive
insanity (bipolar and unipolar disorders)
and its culmination into the contemporary
classifications of mood disorders. It also addresses the
problem of boundaries between the different mood
disorders in terms of their conceptualisation and
classification. The shortcomings of the classificatory
systems and the current progress in the nosology have
also been discussed.
Keyword :
Mood Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Conceptual Issues