Submitted for your perusal: Dysthymic Disorder
by: StillBill

Dysthymia (pronounced dis-thahy-mee-uh, from Ancient Greek δυσθυμα, "melancholy")
is a chronic mood disorder that falls within the depression spectrum.
It is considered a chronic depression, but with less severity than major depressive disorder.
This disorder tends to be a chronic, long-lasting illness.[1]
The term was first used by James Kocsis during the 1970s.[2]

Dysthymia is a type of low-grade depression. Harvard Health Publications states that "the Greek word dysthymia means 'bad state of mind' or 'ill humor'. As one of the two chief forms of clinical depression, it usually has fewer or less serious symptoms than major depression but lasts longer."[3] Harvard Health Publications also says, "at least three-quarters of patients with dysthymia also have a chronic physical illness or another psychiatric disorder such as one of the anxiety disorders, drug addiction, or alcoholism".[3] The Primary Care Journal says that dysthymia "affects approximately three percent of the population and is associated with significant functional impairment".[citation needed] Harvard Health Publications says: "The rate of depression in the families of people with dysthymia is as high as fifty percent for the early-onset form of the disorder. [...] Most people with dysthymia can't tell for sure when they first became depressed".[3]

Dysthymia is a chronic long-lasting form of depression sharing many characteristic symptoms of major depressive disorder (in the form of the melancholic depression subtype). These symptoms tend to be less severe but do fluctuate in intensity.[4] To be diagnosed, an adult must experience 2 or more of the following symptoms for at least two years:[5]
Feelings of hopelessness
Insomnia or hypersomnia
Poor concentration or difficulty making decisions
Poor appetite or overeating
Low energy or fatigue
Low self-esteem
Low sex drive
Irritability [1]

Symptoms exclude "manic, hypomanic or mixed episodes commonly associated with bipolar disorder".[6][7] (If a person experiences these episodes, they may suffer from cyclothymia.)
People with dysthymia have a higher-than-average chance of developing major depression.[citation needed] Fluctuating symptoms intensity can trigger a full-blown episode of major depression.[citation needed] This situation is sometimes called "double depression"[8] because the intense episode exists with the usual feelings of low mood.

As dysthymia is a chronic disorder, sufferers may experience symptoms for many years before it is diagnosed, if diagnosis occurs at all. As a result, they may to believe that depression is a part of their character, so they may not even discuss their symptoms with doctors, family members, or friends.
Dysthymia, like major depression, tends to run in families. It is two to three times more common in women than in men[citation needed]. Some sufferers describe being under chronic stress. When treating diagnosed individuals, it is often difficult to tell whether they are under unusually high environmental stress or the dysthymia is causing them to be more psychologically stressed in a standard environment.

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