The Cultural Parallel Of Depression Between Western Medicine & Chinese Traditional Medicine

Melancholia is one of the normal feelings due to negative social stimulus. When the cause of melancholia is unclear and the condition remains for a long-term, it will induce mental obstacle and further lead to depression. The characteristic of depression is the restrain of motivation and activity, often accompanying with deviation of cognitive domain.Depression, as one of common mental diseases, is also called melancholia, which was firstly prescribed by the descriptions of symptom. And then depression had been defined by western medicine (WM) with the development of the disease classifications. In the present thesis, the course of depression from ancient Greek to nowadays was investigated. Social status of patients with depression varied in the different periods in the western society before 19^th century. From the traditional Chinese medicine point of view, the recognition of depression was also firstly prescribed by records about the descriptions of symptom, which is just what the western medicine argues. Since TCM has a different medical model, its definition and classification in depression differed from WM. The investigation of ancient documents of TCM indicated that there is no corresponding relationship between WM and TCM. The symptoms of depression had placed in a variety of disease's names in TCM. Although the approaches of understanding in depression were essentially difference in WM and TCM, The treatments of depression had the some similarities, to some extent, between them.In the fields of medical sociology, the analysis regarding the basis of social culture, culture core of somatic symptoms, and the differences of gender and age was performed to interpret the cultural correlations of psycho-diseases. The sophisticated relationships with religion ethics and social culture provided the humanity's care to this disease. The understandings of depression were inevitably different due to the different cultural backgrounds. There is no doubt that the exports are necessary to be reconstructed. In the age of the collision and mixation of the western and oriental cultures, it is suitable to choose the appropriate keys to investigate the pathological characteristics based on the domestic culture. The present study provided theoretical support and the instructions of clinical treatments including psychiatric persuade and psycho-dynamic treatments.