Today we have all sorts of medication, a good understanding of psychology etc, but people still look at depression poorly. So I was wondering how Romans and other ancient cultures treated depression.
Hiya, I answered a similar question to this a couple of months ago (although that question was a little more broad in what the OP wanted to know) So I'll post the relevant sections below: :)
As you [may] know early asylums & psychiatry itself was fairly unscientific with Psychiatry dating back to the ancient greeks. Psychiatry in the Greeks mind was the field of the spiritualists & that of the supernatural with exorcisms being commonplace, this was the definition of Psychiatry until the mid 19th century when it started to be recognised as a medical discipline & not just a subsidiary of Philosophy.
However there were some people that thought those with mental illness should be treated in a humane way (even if their theories as to what was causing their distress & how best to cure it was distorted by the limitations of the age) This "humane treatment" does date back to the greeks & romans but I will say that I'm not too familiar with their methods so I can't go too in depth: In the 4th Century BC, No other than Hippocrates:
"theorized that physiological abnormalities were causing mental disorders. He viewed the brain as the seat of consciousness, emotion, intelligence, wisdom and reasoned that disorders involving these functions must be located in the brain and were not inflicted by the Gods." [Similar to his theory of the "four humours/Humourism"]
[...]
And in 129 BC, Greek physician Asclepiades advocated humane treatment of the mentally ill, he freed them from confinement & gave a prescription of diets & massages. Roman physician, Galen;
"adopted a single symptom approach rather than broad diagnostic categories, for example studying separate states of sadness, excitement, confusion and memory loss. Galen extended these ideas and developed a powerful and influential school of thought within the biological tradition that extended well into the 18th century."
[I then move on to 8th Century Iraq, so feel free to check the above answer]
The following isn't from my original answer;
What we now know as "Clinical Depression" in Greco-Rome it was called "Melancholia" & encompassed many other mental illnesses. Melancholia was thought to be a product of the "Humorism" & in turn the "four temperaments". The Humours were; Blood, Yellow Bile, Black Bile & Phlegm which corresponded to these temperaments;
Hippocrates thought that if a person were "healthy" & "normal" then all the humours & corresponding temperaments were at equal levels. Disabilities & diseases were supposedly caused by an imbalance in the humours. This imbalance was thought to be caused by vapors one had inhaled.
The Greco-Romans believed when one had an imbalance in humours, one's personality could be negatively affected. The Humours were supposed to have certain effects on the body;
Blood ~ Made you feel warm & happy, produced (they thought) exclusively by the Liver
Yellow bile ~ Excess of this was thought to produce aggression & if constant could damage the liver causing an imbalance.
Black bile ~ Excess of this produced by the spleen was thought to cause melancholy.
Phlegm ~ Excess of this produced by the brain caused apathetic behavior.
I'm sorry but that is as much as I can say on the subject. Hopefully this was insightful :)
I'll post the sources I used in the answer linked above & the one's I used for this comment, some sources overlap.
Sources & Further Reading:
Penguin Classics' ~ "Hippocratic Writings"
Penguin Classics' ~ "Hippocratic Writings"
Rudolf Steiner ~ The Four Temperaments