Did doctors know what depression was in the Victorian period?
Yes they did but it went under different names. Depending on the nature of the depression it might have been called nerves, green sickness, melancholy or hysteria. Generally women were more likely to be diagnosed with hysteria and green sickness. There were various ways of treating the illnesses – psychology was just emerging as a science. In all likelihood, if you were middle or upper class you stood a much better chance of being properly treated. If you were working class then you may well have ended up in a county-run lunatic asylum, which would have been extremely unpleasant (not to mention counter-productive!
