Melancholia in late life in New South Wales and Victoria,Australia,1871

Abstract

In the late nineteenth century, the prognosis of late-life melancholia was believed to be poor. The medical casebooks of 40 patients aged 60+years, admitted to two Hospitals for the Insane in New South Wales with melancholia between 1871 and 1905, were examined. Psychosis (87.5%), depressed mood (80%), suicidal behaviour (55%), physical ill health (55%), restlessness (50%) and fears of harm to self (50%) were identified. Main outcomes were discharge (40%) and death (37.5%). Victoria’s Kew Hospital patient register for 1872–88 revealed 669 melancholia admissions with 30 aged 60+. Outcomes worsened significantly with age (chi square = 16.19, df = 4, p < 0.005), mainly due to higher mortality. Nineteenth-century late-life melancholia was a severe disorder despite many cases recovering.

Keywords

Australia hospitalization melancholia old age outcome

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References

NSW State Archives and Records Authority, 161 O’Connell Street, Kingswood, NSW: Medical casebooks from Gladesville Hospital Series NRS-5031 and Callan Park Hospital Series NRS-4994.

Public Record Office of Victoria, Victorian Archives Centre, 99 Shiel Street, North Melbourne, Victoria: VPRS 7680 P1 Register of Patients (VA2840), Kew 1871–1919, Units 1–4.

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Melancholia in late life in New South Wales and Victoria,Australia,1871–1905: symptoms,behaviours and outcomes

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