TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. definition of depression 2. symptomatology of depression 3. course and prognosis 4. classification of the affective disorders 5. neurotic and psychotic depresive reactoins 6. manic depressive reactions 7. involutional psychotic reaction 8. schizo affective reactionbiological studies of depression 10. psychological and psychodynamic studies 11. resume of the research 12. measurement of depression: the depression inventory 13. Patterns in dreams of depressed patients 14. childhood bereavement and adult depression 15. cognitive distortions in depression 16. theories of depression 17. cogition and psychopathology 18. development of depression 19. pharmacotherapy 20. electorconvulsive therapy 21. psychotherapy.