dysthymia

1. (psychiatry) A form of clinical depression, characterized by low-grade depression which lasts at least two years.Examples: "For diagnostic, research, and treatment reasons, a distinction should always be made between the milder dysthymias, atypical and hysteroid depressions, and the more serious major depressive illnesses, with and without melancholic (vegetative) and psychotic features."; "A decade ago most psychiatrists would have been puzzled to find a chapter on dysthymia in a book about severe depressive disorders. They would have characterized this chronic form of depression as mild, "minor," or "syndromal."[…]In recent years, research has demonstrated the severity, prevalence, and importance of vogorous antidepressant treatment of dysthymia, justifying its inclusion here among serious mood disorders."; "In other patients, the dysthymia may co-occur with but not be causally related to the ADHD (Adler and Cohen 2004).[…]Early studies of adults with ADHD found rates of dysthymia as high as 67%–81% (Wender et al. 1985)."Synonyms: persistent depressive disorder, PDDAntonyms: euthymiauncountableusually