A diagnosis

Dysthymia Disorder…I finally make sense to myself (hmmm..that sounds kind of crazy)

The symptoms of dysthymia are similar to those of major bipolar depression, though they tend to be less intense. In both conditions, a person can have a low or irritable mood (which can change rapidly for no apparent reason), lack of interest in things most people find enjoyable, but also experience an overenthusiastic interest in a certain activity, and a loss of energy that can be followed by a period of excessive energy (not all patients feel this effect). Appetite and weight can be increased or decreased. The person may suffer from insomnia or hypersomnia. He or she may have difficulty concentrating. The person may be indecisive and pessimistic and have a negative self-image. Note that people suffering from dysthymia experience all the symptoms and effects all the time, as depressive episodes can be followed by episodes of hypomania. Furthermore, depressive and hypomanic episodes can be both short- (a matter of few minutes) and long-lasting (up to a few months) and vary in intensity. For a third person, someone suffering from dysthymia can appear to be "extremely moody", shy and, often, shows the tendency to "hide" emotional feelings from others (except in major episodes when stored-up emotions suddenly erupt).

The symptoms can grow into a full blown episode of major depression. This situation is sometimes called "double depression"[2] because the intense episode exists with the usual feelings of low mood. People with dysthymia have a greater-than-average chance of developing major depression. While major depression often occurs in episodes, dysthymia is a constantly present minor bipolar depression, where depressive and hypomanic episodes lasting anything from minutes to months constantly follow each other (often interrupted by episodes of seemingly normality), sometimes beginning in childhood. As a result a person with dysthymia tends to believe that depression is a part of his or her character. The person with dysthymia may often not be self-aware of the condition and, subsequently, may not even think to talk about this depression 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. 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 if the dysthymia causes them to be more psychologically stressed in a standard environment.