Mood & Depression
Persistent Depressive Disorder
Also known as Dysthymia
A long-running, lower-grade depression lasting two years or more, often experienced as 'just how I am' rather than as an illness.
What it can feel like
- Chronic low mood for years
- Low self-esteem and a sense of never quite coping
- Low energy and reduced enjoyment
- Difficulty making decisions
- Periods of feeling fine that never last long
Not everyone has every symptom, and you do not need a label to deserve support.
Things that help
Name it as a condition, not a personality
Years of low mood feel like identity. Naming it as something treatable is the first real change.
Stack small positive actions
Pleasant and mastery activities, scheduled deliberately, lift mood slowly. Two or three per day is plenty at first.
Add social contact before you feel like it
Low-level isolation maintains the condition. Regular, low-effort contact with one or two people is protective.
Want to actually do these? Save them to your practices and tick them off as you go.
Add to my practicesWhen to reach for more support
Treatment helps even after many years. Ask about CBT, behavioural activation, and a full assessment, including a review of any earlier treatment.
Often looked at together
Bipolar I Disorder
Episodes of mania, where mood and energy escalate far beyond normal for a week or more, usually alternating with periods of depression.
Bipolar II Disorder
Repeated depressive episodes with milder episodes of elevated mood (hypomania) that feel productive rather than out of control. Often mistaken for depression for years.
Cyclothymia
Two years or more of shifting between mild highs and mild lows that never quite reach full episodes, but still unsettle stability.