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on psychiatry and psychology

Dysthymia

Written by: Petros Skapinakis, MD, MPH, PhD, lecturer of Psychiatry in the University of Ioannina Medical School, Greece. Eva Gerasi, postgraduate student in the Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Ioannina, Greece.
First version: 22 Jul 2008. Latest version: 26 Dec 2009.

Abstract:

Dysthymia is a depression which is lighter and less severe.

Question:

What is dysthymia?

Answer:

Less severe depression has been awarded many labels, including neurotic depression, minor depression, and reactive depression (not depression as a reaction to circumstances but when reactivity to the events of the surroundings is preserved). It is now termed dysthymia, a persistent low grade condition. This may be complicated by episodes of more severe depression, resulting in "double" depression in which resolution of the more severe syndrome is difficult to judge.

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