Treat Dysthymia With Anti Depression Medication To Avoid "double Depression"

Dysthymia, also known as chronic depression, is a mildly depressed state that has lasted at least two years. Dysthymia is characterized by the same symptoms as full-blown depression, but with the symptoms experienced to a lesser degree. Believed to affect about 3% of the American population at any time, it is the most common form of depression. Like major depression, the symptoms of chronic depression include:

Feeling sad and/or empty most of the time
Feeling tired and "low energy"
Feeling guilty or worthless
Feeling worried, anxious and/or irritable
Losing hope; feeling helpless
Losing interest in life and former activities; loss of interest in sex; difficulty enjoying yourself
Trouble concentrating; foggy thinking; difficulty making decisions
Sleep disturbances (oversleeping, not sleeping enough, waking up early and not being able to get back to sleep
Changes in eating habits (overeating or loss of appetite)
Physical symptoms such as headaches, aches and pains, cramps or digestive problems that don't respond to treatment
"Self medicating" with alcohol or recreational or prescription drugs
Thoughts of death, or even suicide

The National Institute of Mental Health estimates almost 11 million American adults are impacted by dysthymia. Although it can begin at any age, dysthymia often begins earlier in life than chronic depression, and is more common in women than in men. Understandably, many people with chronic health issues or other major life stressors suffer from dysthymia. Work, family and relationship problems can also play a role, as can certain prescription medications. The cause of dysthymia is not known, but, like major depression, it's believed related to changes in levels of neurotransmitters like serotonin in the brain.

With dysthymia, the low mood persists most days for long periods of time, often years. While it may lift now and then, possibly even for a month or two, it almost always returns. While dysthymia does not interfere with the ability to function in daily life as severely as major depression does, it does interfere with the ability to perform at full capacity and to enjoy life. Because it is subtle and not readily diagnosed, many sufferers just consider themselves "moody", and accept their negative view of themselves and the world as the way things really are, particularly if they developed the condition early in life.

Dysthymia is treated with antidepressant drugs much like major depression. The newer SSRI antidepressants (serotonin reuptake inhibitors) like Lexapro, Celexa, Prozac and Zoloft are the most common antidepressants prescribed for chronic depression, sometimes in combination with Wellbutrin XL (bupropion), which tends to have fewer antidepressant side effects. Because dysthymia is more chronic in nature, it often requires patients stay on their antidepression medications longer than for regular depression, frequently for years. Treatment can often be managed by your primary physician, but many dysthymia patients benefit from adding counseling to their depression medication.

It's not unusual for someone with untreated dysthymia to develop major depression. When someone with dysthymia also experiences major depression, it's called double depression. The treatment goal with double depression is to get the patient feeling better than they did when they were suffering from the original dysthymia.

By: Lynn Woods

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Lynn Woods researches and writes about medications. She feels strongly that everyone should have access to affordable depression medication, and advises that Big Mountain Drugs is a reliable Canadian pharmacy from which to buy Lexapro and generic Lexapro.