Mental Depression

This category denotes a chronic, low-grade depression characterized by pervasive dysphoric mood present for more days than not. It lasts for at least 2 years, and some complain of life-long feelings of depression. Symptoms are less severe than those of major depression, and there are also less neurovegetative symptoms. Depression appears as an integral part of a patient's personality or character. Such patients can be frustrating to treat because of chronic dysphoria, persistent pessimism, and development of irrational patterns of negative thinking (for example, "things always go wrong for me"). Typically, onset is in adolescence or early adult life and is accompanied by other symptoms of personality disorder, such as a history of difficulty with interpersonal relationships, feelings of emptiness, and lack of identity. Dysthymia and major depression can coexist in a given patient (double depression) when a major depressive episode evolves in the context of preexisting dysthymia. However, incomplete recovery from a major depression should be described as major depression in partial remission rather than dysthymia.