Dysthymia, also known as persistent depressive disorder, is a mental and behavioral disorder, specifically a disorder consisting primarily of mood, consisting of the same cognitive and physical problems as depression, but with longer-lasting symptoms. The concept was coined in the late 1970s by Robert Spitzer as a replacement for the term "depressive personality.

In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), dysthymia is a severe state of chronic depression that persists for at least two years (one year for children and adolescents). Dysthymia is less acute than depressive disorder, but not necessarily less severe.

Since dysthymia is a chronic condition, patients may experience symptoms for years before being diagnosed, if at all. Consequently, they may believe that depression is part of their character, so they may not even discuss their symptoms with doctors, family members or friends. In the DSM-5, dysthymia is replaced by persistent depressive disorder. This new condition includes both chronic depressive disorder and previous dysthymic disorder. The reason for this change is that there was no evidence of significant differences between these two conditions.


Treatment BeterKlinic

BeterKliniek is the clinic for Integrative Medicine that bridges regular and non-regular medicine.

An van Veen (physician) and Michael van Gils (therapist) look for the cause of a condition or disease. That is where the treatment starts otherwise, as people often say, it is 'carrying water to the sea'. We call this cause medicine. Sometimes it is also desirable to treat the symptoms (at the same time). We call this symptom medicine.

Chronic disorders often have their cause in epi- genetics. You can schedule a free informative telephone consultation (phone number 040-7117337 until 1 p.m.) at BeterKliniek to discuss your symptoms so that we can provide you with further advice.