How and why did depression become a widespread illness? Against the backdrop of a history of ideas surrounding melancholy and depression, Konstantin Ingenkamp develops his own culturally informed perspective that challenges both the increasing pathologization and the prevalent thesis that mental illnesses are on the rise. Instead, depression is illuminated as a state of mind that belongs to the human condition, which can be found as the flip side of positive thinking in the Protestant revival movements of the 19th century, as well as a counterconcept to mental health during the Cold War. The author demonstrates that it is only with the boom of psychopharmaceuticals in contemporary health society that depression becomes a widespread illness.