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Dysthymia through time: A review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

M.T. Valadas  and
R. Mota Freitas
M.T. Valadas*
Affiliation:
Serviço De Psiquiatria, Unidade Local de Saúde do Baixo Alentejo, Beja, Portugal
R. Mota Freitas
Affiliation:
Departamento De Psiquiatria E Saúde Mental, Hospital do Espírito Santo de Évora, Évora, Portugal
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Dysthymia is defined in ICD-10 as a chronic depression of mood which does not currently fulfil the criteria for recurrent depressive disorder, mild or moderate severity, in terms of either severity or duration of individual episodes. Although it only entered the psychiatric classifications in DSM-III and ICD-10, this syndrome has been a subject of several changes in conceptualization and classification.

Objectives

We aim to perform an historical review on dysthymia and related concepts.

Methods

We performed an updated review in the PubMed database using the terms “dysthymia”, “dysthymic disorder”, “persistent depressive disorder”, “neurotic depression” and “depressive personality”. The included articles were selected by title and abstract. We also consulted reference textbooks.

Results

Depressive symptoms have been recognized since Antiquity, however, depressive disorders with a chronic course were only conceptualized in the 1970s. Dysthymia represents the confluence of older concepts, including neurotic depression and depressive personality and entered the psychiatric classifications in DSM-III and ICD-10. Presently, this syndrome is classified as persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia) in DSM-5 and named dysthymic disorder in ICD-11.

Conclusions

The concepts regarding mental illness and psychiatric diagnoses are constantly evolving. Having knowledge about historical concepts is essential for a clear communication among psychiatrists, adding to the differential diagnosis process and improving patient care.

Keywords

Dysthymia
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 64 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 29th European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2021 , pp. S329
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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