Lypemania is a severe depressive state. This major depressive disorder is treated with antidepressants and therapy. 

The term Lypémanie was used for the first time by the psychiatrist E. Esquirol (1772-1840), author of the treatise “De la lypémanie ou mélancolie”, dated 1820 and it is no longer used today in the vocabulary. medical. The melancholy he describes is a form of severe depression or severe depression of the melancholic type. Very severe depressive episodes may present with psychotic (delirium) and / or melancholic characteristics. 

This severe depression has a biological and hereditary character. It would appear that in first-degree biological relatives of people with depression, major depressive disorder is 1,5 to 3 times more common than in the general population, taking other factors into account. 

Strictly speaking, there are no “depression genes”, but rather regions in DNA capable of transmitting vulnerability to depression. 

Dr Esquirol describes Lypemania in his treatise as follows: “ “Lypemania is a cerebral disease characterized by partial, chronic delirium, without fever, maintained by a sad, debilitating or oppressive passion. (…) Lypemaniacs are born with a particular temperament, the melancholic temperament which disposes them to lypemania ”.

People with hypemania or severe depression show a depressed mood most of the day, almost every day, constant sadness or even crying, fatigue and loss of energy, loss of interest and pleasure (they don’t want nothing more and nothing makes them happy). They’re waiting for someone or something that doesn’t happen. 

They also have sleep disorders (insomnia or hypersomnia), appetite disorders with weight loss or gain, psychomotor slowing or on the contrary restlessness, a decrease in concentration or the ability to think, an -depreciation, feelings of guilt, and may have recurring thoughts of death and suicidal ideation. In addition, there is a social withdrawal and signs of anxiety.

Lypemania or severe depression is treated with antidepressants. Antidepressants are able to improve depressed mood within a few weeks.

They must be accompanied by psychotherapy (supportive psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), psychodynamic or analytically inspired psychotherapies, systemic therapies, etc.)

Severe depression resistant to drug therapy can be treated with seismotherapy. This treatment consists of causing a general epileptic seizure by delivering an electrical impulse (electroshock) to the cranium. 

The effectiveness of seismotherapy in the treatment of severe depression is of the order of 80%.

The support of a loved one suffering from hypemania or severe depression is essential. It is advisable not to rush him but on the contrary to surround him. Offer to do activities alone together, without pushing. Listen to him, even if his speech is still the same. Give him little touches. Value his efforts even if it seems minimal to you and underline the improvements in his condition. 

It is also recommended to warn those around you, friends, because they can take the attitude of your depressed loved one badly. Remember to talk about it with the children.