What Is Dysthymic Depression?
Dysthymic Depression sometime called dysthymic disorder or even dysthymia is well described in Wikipedia as:
“…… a mood disorder consisting of chronic depression, with less severe symptoms than major depressive disorder. The concept was coined by Dr Robert Spitzer (an editor of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III)) as a replacement for the term “depressive personality” in the late 1970s.”
Dysthymic Depression can therefore be described as a relatively low-grade depressive disorder that is actually a chronic depression all the same. It is typically characterized by feelings of sadness or sad moods with low levels of emotion. This type of depression is commonly associated with a lack of interest in doing things that in the past will have had high levels of interest and excitement. Also it is widely recognized that sufferers will exhibit a number of physical symptoms such as a distinct lack of energy and enthusiasm, disrupted sleep patterns and an inability to concentrate properly.
Implications Of Dysthymic Depression
Dysthymic Depression is said to be a specific type of clinical depression. It is often thought of as a mild form of depression. Sufferers are able to continue with their normal daily activities, for the most part. They are able to continue to work at their jobs and may not present any symptoms that would describe them as ill or sick. For example they are not necessarily bed or house bound. For outsiders looking in at people who are suffering from Dysthymic Depression they appear to be normal. Hence the condition is described as mild when compared with some other forms of depression.
Additionally the symptoms for dysthymia patients do not necessarily occur every day. However, there is one common theme described by Dysthymic Depression sufferers and that is that they have not felt happy for some time. Indeed, they often complain that they haven’t felt normal or had what they believe to be normal feelings for a long tome.
Moreover, Dysthymic Depression manifests itself by a distinct lack of drive, passion and motivation. It is said they place a low emotional value on the things around them. This can have detrimental consequences for their personal relationships with those close to them. Relatives, friends and work colleagues may easily misunderstand the signs and symptoms of the disorder. For example, work colleagues and perhaps more importantly their line managers or bosses may interpret the sufferer’s demeanor to be lazy and uncaring, with low levels of motivation and concentration. Of course, this can be potentially damaging for their careers and their relationships with their work colleagues. You can imagine a similar scenario with relatives and friends. As time goes by, individuals with this disorder will experience increasing difficulties with elements of their own emotional life. It will become harder and harder to function normally.
The Outcome Of Dysthymic Depression
It can be very difficult to get early diagnosis of this condition. In fact in some cases there is no diagnosis or recognition of the condition at all. In the main sufferers can appear to be functioning normally. This makes it hard for both the individual concerned and anyone close to them to recognize they have an illness. This makes getting treatment often a remote possibility.
One important symptom of Dysthymic Depression is that the patients will start to experience considerable emotional turmoil in their lives. Without being too alarmist it is fair to say that medical records show that some dysthymia sufferers eventually develop a more serious type of depression called Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).
Is There A Treatment For Dysthymic Depression?
Dysthymic Depression can be treated by either antidepressant medication or psychotherapy or more often a combination of both. It is not within the scope of this article to discuss or promote antidepressant medicines in any way whatsoever. I will leave this to the medical profession. However, I would repeat the warnings given on other pages of this website, about the potential harmful side effects of using such prescribed drugs. Those of you who are familiar with this information based website will recognize my quest for natural cures for depression when it comes to the important question of – How To Cure Depression?
Psychotherapy is now recognized as an effective treatment for dysthymia. Different elements of psychotherapy have been shown to be beneficial in varying ways and with differing levels of success. Most sufferers have been shown to respond to a greater or lesser degree when subjected to the various treatments. However it is an unfortunate aspect of this disorder that some patients may not respond at all or only to a minimal degree. In that respect treating Dysthymic Depression can be very challenging indeed.
Case studies show that one area of treatment known as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), when applied properly can lead to reduced symptoms, over a period of time. Other forms of recognized remedies for depression such as talk-therapy have also been used as effective natural cures for depression.
Conclusion
So, Dysthymic Depression can be said to be a serious health problem that really needs to be recognized and as a consequence treated early. Unfortunately, as described above, it is often a condition that hides itself from both the sufferer and those close to the sufferer. Amazingly it is also one of those annoying conditions where the symptoms escape even the scrutiny of their doctor. It simply evades everyone and sort of “flies under the radar.” So it gets missed and the Dysthymic Depression goes undiagnosed for long periods giving no real opportunity of beating depression.
