What is Persistent Depressive Disorder?
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Imagine being sick for a long time—maybe even a lifetime—and not knowing it. Persistent Depressive Disorder (PDD) affects people that way. It’s a stealthy illness, hard to detect, yet quietly disabling.
Persistent Depressive Disorder—the depression formerly known as dysthymia—is a chronic, milder form of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). The symptoms for both are the usual suspects in depressive illness: a down mood, fatigue, despair, trouble eating and sleeping, and poor concentration.
In adults, it takes two symptoms and two years to establish a Persistent Depressive Disorder diagnosis. During that time, patients may feel fine for up to two months at a time. They could also flame into a major depressive episode. But where Major Depressive Disorder boils and cools, Persistent Depressive Disorder simmers at a low, slow burn.