Dysthymia

I think I found the exact description of my husband. I have only know him to have 2 breaks from depression over the past decade. The first was when we were dating (convenient huh?) and the other for about 6 months just before our first child was born (he was taking Zoloft).

I read an article over at the Harvard Medical School site:
(bold text is for my situation)

"The American Psychiatric Association defines dysthymia as depressed mood most of the time for at least two years, along with at least two of the following symptoms: poor appetite or overeating; insomnia or excessive sleep; low energy or fatigue; low self-esteem; poor concentration or indecisiveness; and hopelessness."

"American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic manual also suggests, as a possibility for further investigation, an alternative definition with symptoms including . . . social withdrawal, guilt, and irritability. . . The purpose is to distinguish dysthymia more clearly from major depression by emphasizing mood and personal relations over physical symptoms."

I didn't hear the term "dysthymia" until a recent PBS special on depression. Knowing that my husband's symptoms have a name helps, a little.

Knowing that he refuses any kind of treatment is VERY frustrating.


Which leads me to my previous post - Personality vs. Depression.

The Harvard article posed this question:
Is there a depressive personality?

"In principle, personality is usually lifelong, while moods come and go. ... Mood and personality are the emotional weather and emotional climate of individuals, so the symptoms of mood and personality disorders naturally overlap. The thought schemas that cognitive therapists find at the roots of major depression and dysthymia — certain beliefs about the self, the world, and the future — are also the basis of depressive personality. Disturbances in mood can have effects on a person’s emotional state and social life that resemble a personality disorder. And people are more easily demoralized and recover more slowly from any stress or misfortune if they are pessimistic and self-critical by nature — or emotionally unstable, impulsive, and hypersensitive to loss."

Interesting.