Lincoln Letter to John Stuart

[Craig Hipkins]

Here is the definition of clinical depression from dictionary.com:

"a depression so severe as to be considered abnormal, either because of no obvious environmental causes, or because the reaction to unfortunate life circumstances is more intense or prolonged than would generally be expected."

Does anyone feel Lincoln's bouts with depression met this definition?

Roger, I would definitely say that "unfortunate life circumstances" would pertain to Lincoln. If you look at his early years (the years where the personality develops) he was subject to great personal loss with the death of his mother.

Craig