title: An Examination of Horace Wells' Life as a Manifestation of Major Depressive and Seasonal Affective Disorders.
abstract: Horace Wells was a Hartford, Connecticut, dentist whose practice flourished because of his clinical skills. He had an imaginative mind that propelled him to the forefront in several aspects of dentistry. Unfortunately, he suffered a recurrent "illness" that began in the winter and resolved in the spring. These symptoms were compatible with both major depressive disorder and seasonal affective disorder as a qualifier. Wells' introduction of nitrous oxide as an anesthetic was also associated with self-inhalation. This led to periods of hypomania, followed by depression. With the progression to ether, then chloroform, there was an episode of mania in January 1848, followed by depression and suicide.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Electronic address: rfmartin@partners.org.
authors.forename: Ramon F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Sukumar P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Desai
mesh_terms: D018685:Anesthetics, Inhalation; D001714:Bipolar Disorder; D002725:Chloroform / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003237:Connecticut; D003813:Dentistry; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D009609:Nitrous Oxide / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D016574:Seasonal Affective Disorder / Q000523:psychology*
chemical_list: D018685:Anesthetics, Inhalation; D002725:Chloroform; D009609:Nitrous Oxide