Anna O. had a severe depressive illness.
The information available on the illness of Anna O. is reviewed together with follow-up data from the literature. It is concluded that the diagnosis of a severe depressive illness with depressive delusions is well justified. Hysterical symptoms which appeared can be understood as part of the depressive state modified by the expectations of the period and by the intervention of physicians. The illness was a very protracted one, with fluctuations or exacerbations lasting from 1880 to 1887, and was complicated by dependence upon morphine and chloral hydrate. However, by 1888, the patient appears to have made a considerable recovery, and she went on to lead an effective and fruitful life, demonstrating high intelligence and the resilience of the cyclothymic temperament.
Merskey
H
H
University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
D001317:Austria; D003527:Cyclothymic Disorder / Q000266:history*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000266:history*; D005260:Female; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007046:Hysteria / Q000266:history*; D011572:Psychoanalysis / Q000266:history*