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Home » Depression » Dysthymia » Minor affective disorders
Dysthmic disorder, or depressive neurosis, may occur on its own, but it more commonly appears along with other neurotic symptoms such as anxiety, phobia, and hypochondriasis. Where there are clear external grounds for a person's unhappiness, a dysthymic disorder is considered to be present when the depressed mood is disproportionately severe or prolonged in regard to the distressing experience, when there is a preoccupation with the precipitating situation, when the depression continues even after removal of the provocation, and when it impairs the individual's ability to cope with the specific stress.
At any time, depressive symptoms may be found in one-sixth of the population, more commonly in women than men. Social factors are important etiologically, as evidenced in the high rates of depression found in urban women living without a male cohabitant, having three or more children, and lacking employment outside the home. Loss of self-esteem, feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, and losses of various types of “loved objects” are also seen as important causes of minor depression. The course and severity of dysthymic disorder is extremely variable—from a few weeks or months to several decades and from the mild impairment of social functioning to almost total incapacitation. Psychotherapy is the treatment of choice, although antidepressant medication may prove beneficial.
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