Dysthymia Puns

TLDR; What are your experiences with medication or alternatives? Would you recommend it or not? I’m asking because I’m considering using medication/alternatives myself

Hi everyone, Today I (22F) have come to this sub to ask for some advice I guess, well not really advice but mostly I just want to know what other people’s experience has been with using medication to battle depression/dysthymia. I’d like to know because I’m thinking about starting with medication.

It has been suggested to me before by the therapist I was seeing back then (6yrs ago) but I have always refused. I didn’t want my feelings to be “less genuine”, or to “lose myself”/become a different person that others (maybe even including myself) wouldn’t recognize anymore. I was (and am) also afraid of depending on medication. I do actually want to have a family, definitely not now, but I guess in or within 10 years I’d like to; so that would mean, for me (I don’t believe this is mandatory or something, but I personally don’t wanna be on the meds while pregnant (or breastfeeding)), that there will be times in my life that I’ll have to stop taking the medication again.

Most of these reasons that have kept me from trying medication in the past are still relevant to me. However, I’ve just come to a point where I’m really just getting sicker of the battle that seems to be constant. I first started therapy over ten years ago. I still am in therapy but I feel as if therapy cannot offer me more things long term than it already has. If anyone feels they should know more about my ‘journey’, you’re absolutely welcome to ask. I’m just not going into too much detail in this post because I don’t know what should be relevant to mention here. But yes, apart from all the years of therapy (different therapies with different therapists), I have definitely also tried, and am still applying, other things. My lifestyle is different and is organized in a way that I can maintain life best. I’m trying so hard, every day, hour, etc. My depression has taken over my life; I want to live life living, not ‘live’ life trying not to succumb to suicidal thoughts. I think I deserve an ‘actual life’, I think everyone does deserve that.

It just feels like there’s only so much you can do.

I’m sorry if this post was a little hectic. It’s just a subject that makes me very emotional, I guess partly because the whole starting with medication is also me admitting (and eventually accepting more) that I’m ill. Plus this isn’t m

I saw another post here on this sub which reminded me how the early days were for me. How the diagnosis of dysthymia didn't exist way back when. To this day I struggle to get dysthymia acknowledged even in a professional field unless it's a very experienced and open-minded doctor. Don't get me started on the average person's ignorance if there's barriers in the professional field.

Bear in mind, this is hopefully just my local area. It sounds like there's less of that where some of you live. But maybe not! So how's it been for you?

Not such a festive message but I just have to share it.

Tonight my family held a Christmas Eve get-together.

I sat at the decked table. People chit-chatting their mouths away.

There was an overflow of information. My brain shut down and it felt like my head was stuck in a fishbowl.

I read the room and everyone in it as if I was only watching the images of a comic book.

Sure I was physically there, but I am in fact never present at all. My head is constantly occupied with negativity and it makes me feel so lonely.

It makes me sad that these people take the time to be around me. My family that I should be grateful to still have.

I have got nothing to give.

I am not sure where I'm going with this story.

It's just so damn difficult to always have to deal with this fucking dysthymia.

I have had it all my life so I should be used to it, but I still feel like it's the biggest burden.

It is hard to accept that nothing is ever as fun for me as it is for someone without dysthymia.

I've snuck off to my bedroom and I'm calling it a night.

I wish you all a good Christmas, and to anyone out there also struggling

Know that you're not alone.

Don't forget to take care of yourself!

I suppose that is also a message to myself.

I’ve had this feeling since I was 12? I can’t remember. Nothing makes me excited or enthusiastic. I feel bad when I’m talking to a coworker and they’re excited about something and I’m like a robot. I can’t carry a conversation with anyone, I get so bored. It makes me come off as rude or stuck up.

I don’t care about anything. I’m covering my body in tattoos because well why not, I already started, the pain from tattoos does make me feel good/alive. Probably the endorphins. I do psychedelics sometimes and while it is cool it also makes me hyper aware of everything. How I’m alone, how the world functions, how I’m a sentient being made up of atoms who just exists.

I’ll never trust a human. Human nature is to be selfish. It’s all about pride and greed. Feeding the ego. Chasing after money because it determines your worth in human society.

I’m not sure what the point of anything is. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be looking forward to if it doesn’t bring joy.

I (28f) have been daiting my bf (37 m) for 8 years, I have sacrificed a lot for us, I stopped being vegan and going to the gym because we couldn't afford it, alone i budget my expences perfectly but together we didn't make enough (therapist, psychologist and meds).

I motivated him to get a better job (his job when we met payed below legal) and support him while he was searching; after months he finally landed a job in a great company.

His job was in the low part of the chain, I know he has all the skills to become the leader of his area, I tried to talk to him to climb the ladder, after many conversations he finally was honest and said he was happy in his position. I stopped insisting now that he gave me a reason.

Years past and the company started to struggle, half of employees got fired and they promoted him to a more challenging area without a pay rise and more responsabilities. Right before COVID happened he got a new boss (toxic and lazy) in his area, my bf is beyond burnt out due to him.

Here is where i would become an asshole and tell him he deserves this because he had all the support of his team, the skills and intellect to be the leader of his area when he had several oportunities.

This happened again I found an opportunity for him in a better paying area, doing what he already does, I found a bootcamp for free by a company with the chance of getting hired.

At the end of the bootcamp he was selected to become part of the team after an interview, they even provided material to study for the challenge.

He did not study, everyday i would ask him if he did, and tried to help by removing distractors (he didn't had to do chores or erranda for the duration of the bootcamp and study), he said it was easy and would manage. Spoiler alert he failed badly.

I tried to confort him and avoid saying i told you so, I suggested that he could practice what he learned in his current job and improve a little bit his skills and quality of life at work, he refused saying he was not going to do extra work for free. I even explain how this would help him, not the company but him.

2 Years later he got an other chance to try in this company he would make 4 times what he makes right now (as JR!) if he lands the job. In the first interview he lied, everything i told him to do and didn't do lied saying he did. He even lied saying he was learning what i am learning in my free time (web dev).

He got a technical interview a couple of days ago and they busted him when

I had a light bulb in therapy last night. My trauma informed therapist and I were talking, and I explained that the symptoms that are troubling me most now are a lack of feeling for myself and others, a lack of connection, no motivation, no joy, everything feeling like a drag. It struck me that I might have been depressed… well, forever.

My therapist said it sounds like “dysthymia”, and because we’ve focussed so long on the trauma symptoms, we haven’t talked about the depressive ones (also because a lot of my trauma has probably informed this state).

Is anyone else in the same boat?

The biggest issue I have faced by far with respect to dysthymia is my emotional irritability. Ever since I was very, VERY young, I have been unable to control my crying at all. Anything and everything sets me off with no filter. Over the years, I have obviously gotten just a little better at barely controlling it, but it’s still not in my hands.

Sometimes, I just feel completely overwhelmed and break down crying for no reason. It could be a small thing like a broken pencil that triggers this, but it just feels like everything in the world that was ever painful just gathered in my heart at that moment. My face freezes, my eyes water and burn, my throat is choked, and my chest is tight. I can’t breathe or speak or think. I feel possessed by some otherworldly being into feeling every negative emotion in the world at the same time, and it hurts a thousand times more than it normally should.

What’s worse is that I grew up with a lot of emotional trauma because of this. I was bullied and abused so much because I couldn’t control my crying. Now I have unshakable fears of abandonment and need constant validation not to feel like a worthless human being.

I’m wondering if I am alone in this, or is this a common theme with dysthymia?

I wss going through my medical records and when I was 12, I was diagnosed with Dysthymia. It is strange knowing that, because I didn't before. To be diagnosed with that here, I would have needed to be depressed for at least a year, which means I have been depressed since I was 10 or 11.

I started self harming when I was around 11 or 12 and was definitely depressed, but I didn't know I had received this diagnosis. I also up until this year have dealt with undiagnosed autism.

I feel bad because even to this point in my life (I'm 21) I am still depressed all the time. Also, meds wouldn't work, I tried so many and they all made me feel worse. I hate depression, and I guess I've been dealing with it at least since I was 11.

My closest friend got diagnosed with dysthymia last week. I already searched all I could find about it on the internet and asked her if there were things I can be aware of or look after.

We know eachother for a very long time now, so i know how she can be and how to deal with it. Even if I sometimes hurt myself with it I try to do what is best for her. Knowing she has dysthymia makes things easier to understand, but also more difficult.

My questions are what I can do to support her, things I can look for or take into account, certain things I should or shouldnt let go? And what is your story, how did people help you or how did you help yourself? Are there any tips I can give her if she asks or need it? Feel free to add extra thing I havent mentioned that you think are important.

Thank you.

Edit:

Thank you all for the multiple responses. They were really helpfull and gave me a little insight in yours and possibly her life. Ill try my best. Love you all

I’m really motivated and want to keep that positive attitude. Also, my clothes don’t fit anymore. 😅

I got diagnosed with ADHD some 3 years back and have been put on antidepressants since. After a while we introduced ritalin and it's working great for me. At the time of the diagnosis I was depressed so I was put on Bupropion and later a SSRI. Then some 10 months back I was again put on Bupropion cause of pandemic stress and family, I even had a personal loss later and when we were supposed to limit my intake we decided against it cause I was stressing about a recent job which I quit in less than 2 months. I was having a conversation with my friend who also started seeing a psychiatrist and psychologist sometime in the pandemic. But she got off meds and seems to be doing great and I realised that I've been on it for a while.

Obviously I resort to googling things and this is the only thing that makes sense to me. I do feel down from time to time but then again I feel like my brain is manipulating these memories and it's not the reality. I have had suicidal ideation for as long as I can remember (9-11 years old). I think I had it even before I went through some trauma. It wasn't too serious ever even when I was severely depressed, I know I would never attempt. Up until now I did believe that I've had bouts of depression throughout my life (I'm 23 now) but ruled out bipolar cause never experienced mania.

And now that I'm scrolling through reddit I totally relate to posts here but again could be my brain manipulating. I tend to isolate a lot, I'm extremely flaky, I make plans and I dread it so much, I have friends but only the people who have known me for more than 6 years so they know how I am. Otherwise I can't make friends anymore. My hygiene goes for a toss, there was a phase where I didn't bathe or brush on Sundays at all. I feel apathetic from time to time. I binge Tv series a lot. I struggle to cook for myself or even feed myself when food is already there. It's not like I've never been happy, I do feel happiness but if you asked me when was the last time I was happy I would have to really think hard. And the sad moments seem to be a majority than the happy ones. My life definitely has changed since I started pills, so much that I wasn't as unhappy as my friends the first year of the pandemic at all (I was also living away from my family who trigger me a lot). I can always ask my psychiatrist but I feel like I suggest all these things just so I have a excuse for the way I am. I did feel relieved after I knew I had ADHD and everything made so much sen

So I (24F) just started seeing a therapist and she told me today that after our intake session last week she thinks I have mild dysthymia with anxious distress. Part of me feels like it makes sense, and the other part of me isn’t quite sure. Overall I’m fairly functional, and that may be part of the mild specifier. Cause I’m able to do well in grad school and at my internship; and while I have very few friendships, they’re good ones, and I’ve been with my boyfriend for almost a year now. And it’s not like I’m always unhappy either. I enjoy being with my people; but it’s like as soon as I’m away from them and I’m by myself everything goes numb again. I’ll be smiling on FaceTime with my boyfriend but as soon as we hang up my face goes flat again. And while I’m functional at school, my room hasn’t been cleaned in a while, I’m behind on laundry and dishes, and I cannot for the life of me work up the motivation to get off my phone or my Switch to go and take care of those chores. I’ll only start getting those things done if I absolutely have to, and only to the bare minimum for what I need. Sometimes I’ll start to feel a bit better, and I’ll start getting those things done, but it isn’t long before I’m back to feeling low and I’m falling behind on them again. My good moods don’t last long. And I’m constantly tired. I slept for nine hours last night and I didn’t feel rested at all when I woke up. I also have pretty crappy self esteem. It’s like my overall mood is just “blah.” I have some really good days; but even then there tends to be an undercurrent of a low mood. I’m capable of enjoying things, but that’s not where my mood stays. Part of me feels like this is normal for me and I’m being over dramatic, cause it’s been this way for a long time. But at the same time, I know that I haven’t always been this way. As a kid I was very outgoing and happy; it wasn’t until my first major depressive episode at 13 that I became so introverted and withdrawn and low. So maybe I do have dysthymia? I guess I just want to see if other people think it makes sense.

I’m just now realizing how long this is. Even my TLDR, so I made 2.

TLDR 1.0: Anyone with a similar experience? Did it even come back? Ideas on how to achieve this or what worked for you?

TLDR 1.1: [33M] I was clinically diagnosed with ADD @17 and Chrinic Depression @ 19. I haven’t experienced joy or natural excitement for life without substances in over 10 years (6mo Sober: Perscription Adderall/Vyvanse/Alc/Other). I’ve lost all my passions and interests and struggle with the idea that I can get them back with out controlled medication. I can’t even sit down to enjoy video games or watch TV. It is extremely difficult for me to be present in my own mind. Its as if I’m existing, not living. Going through entire days in a fog, absorbing nothing. Terrible dissociation. Terrible boredom. I haven’t ACTUALLY laughed in years. It’s all fake for myself and for the other person to feel comfortable. My empathy and creativity are null. Preventing me from making real, meaningful m connections with people. Any similar experiences? Suggestions on medication, practices, books, ideas? (Exercise, Diet, and Sleep are all checked)

Current medication: Wellbutrin (just changed back from Viibryd after 2-3 years) Strattera/Chlonopine/Seroquel

I was diagnosed with ADHD at a University where they observe you and test you behind mirrored glass. At 17 (33 now) I started on 30mg of XR twice a day and it was like I could see color for the first time. Took as prescribed. Distributed by the school nurse. Grades soared. Loved school. Loved life. Loved my passions. Loved me. Went to Art school to follow my dreams of designing shoes for Nike. Excelled at drawing. Best in class. I see pictures and read papers from that time and often wonder who that person even is. Stayed in an emotionally and verbally abusive co dependent highschool relationship (because “I was in love!”) Long distance insecure relationship obviously didn’t go well. That combined with the loss of structure of HS, athletics and my close friend group had me run head first into crippling depression and social anxiety. I lived in my own head. “Why did I say that, no one laughed that was so embarrassing” paranoid of what others thought of me. Uncomfortable in my own skin, I isolated hard. I couldn’t muster the courage to even go and be around peers at the mess hall. I either ate subway or ordered dominos every single night.

I Lost myself. Lost my passions. Art turned into work. Insecure and unsure who I was. Dropped o

I’m on a medboard and the primary condition is dysthymia or persistent depressive disorder, plus PTSD and a second mood disorder with psychotic features. I’ve done all my VA appointments and looked over the paperwork. They stated that the dysthymia undoubtedly existed prior to service but was exacerbated by trauma, stress, etc. They determined that PTSD with psychotic features was service related. There’s also some physical injuries/issues with lower body and spine but those are pretty secondary. I was just wondering what kind of rating I should expect. In my report they stated that I have a “severe psychiatric disease” and will likely need medical attention for the rest of my life to maintain stability. I honestly have no idea what to expect for my VA rating. Has anyone had a similar case, and how did it go? How did you advocate for yourself?

Recently went through a terrible breakup. Mood has been depressed for a long time now but hit an even lower low. Diagnosed with dysthymia and prescribed Prozac but I have been reading so much about side effects.

I'm terrified about permanent health effects. I'm also terrified about growing reliant on it and not wanting to or being able to stop in the future. I don't want it to be a permanent thing in my life and I'm terrified that future me would become inseparable from the meds. I'm terrified of losing myself. At the same time, I'm also really tired of the status quo.

Anyone here ever got better without meds? Or anyone that started on meds managed to quit after years?

I think have maladaptive coping methods and I do show some signs of depression but I think that's a result of 30 years of neglect. Also I've seen those signs slowly receding ever since I moved out of my parents house.

The doctor things I should try CBT which isn't that bad/drastic. I don't know if this is my natural distrust or just my avoidant personality but I just don't feel like this doctor is for me.

Note that I live in a country where a lot of older, established psychologists do not label themselves as being trauma informed or aware of narcissism, so this isn't a criteria that I can use while filtering options. Basically it's a trial and error. I went with a therapist who has experience with substance abuse because that's something that I have experienced in my family of origin.

So I guess I don’t really know where to start. I don’t feel “depressed” all the time. There are periods of time that I have felt very negligent, nihilistic, and somewhat hopeless towards life for long (months) periods of time, but I guess the hard thing for me is comparing this new “normal” that I guess I have been experiencing for the last couple of years to the time before. It’s like apples to oranges. The time before y’know, things were different, my life was different. It is hard for me to compare it. Have I been dysthymic? I don’t know. My energy levels have been awful, I don’t have good sleep habits, I have engaged in greatly unhealthy practices I guess to cope (drinking, more nicotine), but then I break out of a spell and practice self care and then I fall off the wagon. Is it just that I have become so adjusted to this new normal that I think this is okay and how life is? I have a full time job, I’m social, but at the same time my life is just like here. Doing tasks for work I feel like I’m behind or inadequate but I’m really not, and I’m always doubting myself. I’m a participant in society and sometimes I’m happy but most the time I’m just like meh, it’s life. Is this sounding familiar? I guess I’m a bit confused.

Let me elaborate.

I'm currently studying the dysthymia hypothesis concerning myself. I'll see a psychiatrist soon for many reasons concerning a depressive mood for years, two deep depressive episodes, anxiety and other stuff.
Yet, idk exactly how to treat all the informations I have concerning myself.

I know that every occurrence of a mental disorder is slightly different from the other. Nevertheless, I wonder if dysthymia can coincide with the fact of living some moments as cool. Idk how to express it fully because it's not a one-sided cool mood. I often feel guilty because of these moments, either because I think that I am not allowed to have fun, or because I think that I am not legitimate to complain about what I would call depressive moods.

Sometimes, I will just laugh with my friends, or at a funny video I'm watching and will appreciate these moments. Of course, when I'm all by myself the morosity comes back more or less.

Sometimes I'm not even sad or anything, I'm just bored. I guess I need things that make sense to me, but when these things come in they usually stop making sense pretty quickly. I'm deeply nihilistic concerning myself and the world, but not in the weird-emo-teen sense. I'm there, thinking nothing makes sense and living it to the core, and yet I can have fun sometimes, but I know inside of me that it's just to fill in the void, and that boredom will always be there because nothing material seems to be able to fill that void.

What do y'all think of it ? Could it be dysthymia if I feel that way but still genuinely have fun sometimes ?

After 20 years of living I just found out I have dysthymia. Is it common that people with dysthymia don’t know they have it? I was like this all my life so I thought this is just my life I guess. No energy, no friends, no motivation, no excitement, nothing. I could never understand why I don’t enjoy most things normal people enjoy.

I don’t know what to do. I feel so bad right now. I tried a lot of things to feel better but they didn’t really help. The worst thing is that I feel guilty for even saying I have persistent depressive disorder because I’m not majorly depressed. So it feels like I’m abusing the term and using it as an excuse. I rarely cry, my emotions are numb which I guess is the reason why I didn’t know anything is wrong for so long. I honestly see no hope for the future. I have no aspirations or anything. I lived my whole life on autopilot.

Advice or thoughts would be nice

I wondered if anyone else had this experience- I feel like people calling dysthymia "mild" depression and less severe feels oddly insulting. I find that people sometimes don't take my diagnosis seriously and don't recognize how debilitating and painful it is to live with it. I feel like my depression is seen as less serious and even family members have dismissed it by saying it's just low mood. I even had a therapist once that said "it's mild- it's not as serious as major depressive disorder.." Not sure if anyone had this experience but just wanted to share.

I was recently diagnosed with dysthymia about a month ago, and it just feels like things have been going downhill ever since. I rarely feel happy, and when I am depressed it is terrible. I usually am only depressed but when I am not I just feel empty... I'm not sure what to do or what helps, does anyone have suggestions?

There are so many reviews where people were amazed about agmatine, I haven't seen negative ones, so I decided to try it, also decided to write this as I hadn't found any recent negative reviews. I have low grade depression/dysthymia since 2017. My Beck's depression inventory scores are in 20-30s all the time I took that test.
I started from 1.5g a day and later increased my intake to 3g a day. Initially there was something dissociative about it that seemed like it helps to distract from bad thoughts, also felt a bit calming and anxiolytic. Then with the dose increase I felt acute reductions in anxiety (much less) and depression (less but still feeling it). Currently I'm not sure if it helps anymore, especially the depressive part and only about a week passed. I will keep taking it and maybe will make another posts once my supply or depression ends, but currently that's what it is.

TLDR: My preliminary conclusion is that agmatine helps anxiety nicely but doesn't help depression or it does but insignificantly.

I've tried a bunch of medication including SSRI and Bupropion, which helped a bit, but not enough. Most affective anti-depressants around are still MAOIs like Parnate. Did anybody here ever try that for dysthymia? Seems a bit like an overkill but if it actually helps...

Like, why do we even need therapy? Can't we just read self help books and just "discipline" ourselves to motivate ourselves to do things? How exactly are therapists helpful? I(25M) just want to know everything about this before I start my therapy for the first time. In my country (not USA, not from EU), therapy has a long waiting list, and am considering to start online psychotherapy from Talkspace. During a psychological profiling session, a psychologist says to me that I should get "disciplined" myself to do things, by making todo lists or so, and that therapy is just a tool to overcome depression, and that I should put effort to cure myself. Am trying to convince the little guy inside my head.

Right now, I don't even want to live in the society. If not for my job, I wouldn't even bother going out of my room. Sunlight? I do receive enough of 'em from the windows. All my tests are within normal levels. No deficiencies. No thyroid. Normal MRI. Its just I have dysthymia.

I have functional depression. I use 100% of my daily energy to complete my demanding job. What is left I dedicate to parenting.

I have no energy left for anything else which means:

1. I only clean my house on the weekends because I don't work weekends and have more energy. This takes up both weekend days.
2. I rarely cook for myself and eat out or eat pre-made foods.
3. When an unexpected crisis happens I have no energy to deal with it
4. Exercise makes me physically exhausted
5. I am always in reaction mode, I don't have enough energy to be preventative
6. I experience anhedonia on a daily basis
7. I am motivated to work only by the threat of being fired/eventual homelessness. This is why it is prioritized over all other things.
8. I see my friends (those I have left) about once every 3-4 months because I need my weekends to complete livings tasks and weekdays I'm too tired.

It used to be better. I used to have energy to exercise, but it's gradually gotten worse over the years rather than better.

Anyone else want to share their experiences?

i’m 19, a sophomore in college. ever since middle school ended, my relationships stopped feeling real/full, everything was just at the surface and i didn’t feel much towards anyone deep down. id get crushes and stuff but i only fell in love once, when i was 13, and almost every day i yearn to go back to those days simply to feel something so full and wonderful again. not trying to completely self-diagnose here, just wanted to see if anyone can relate to how i’m feeling.

thanks, i wish you all a great day:)

Working diagnosis: maybe low grade depression. Maybe ADHD. Perhaps both.

Tried stims for a year. All really helped to make me more functional and give me back a sense of "I can do this" (get through life!). But all ultimately ended up making me so depressed that I stop. Or rather, exacerbated my depression.

Whatever my accurate diagnosis is -- it's made me drink a boatload of caffeine throughout my life purely to function.

I commonly feel foggy / tired / like I'm not functioning at my best. Issues with motivation / getting started on projects / staying focused on them.

Not so much in the way of sadness. Although that's definitely often there in the background. Along with a vague feeling of hopelessness.

Would be interested to know how many people here got misdiagnosed with ADHD initially. Or at least have that alongside their dysthymia. I'm feeling confused about where the boundaries can lie.

About to start Wellburtin.

So I was diagnosed with Dysthymia about two weeks ago, and have since medically withdrawn from school as a senior in college. The Dysthymia that I sort of always knew I had, was exacerbated by Long Haul COVID and school became absolutely impossible, so I'm taking time off to take meds, heal and learn how to be a person again. Additionally, I also had to withdraw from an ROTC program I was a part of so now this huge chunk of my identity that I had built around being an officer in the military is gone. I thought my career had been decided already with ROTC, but that's completely changed now. Anyways, I'm now extremely anxious thinking about how I'm going to spend my time. For the past few years, it's been incredibly difficult to enjoy anything, and I always found myself too busy to have any real hobbies. Aside from the obvious responsibility of taking care of myself during the time off, I have no idea how to figure out who I am, or what I enjoy. How does one develop hobbies? How do you spend a gap year productively while giving yourself the space to heal? While the stress of school is no longer there, my mind is racing to figure out what the next year will look like. I don't want to waste this next year, I want to use this time to figure out who I am and what makes me happy but I don't know where to start.

(29M) My wife (29F) suffers from Dysthymia. She watched her cousin drown in front of her when she was a child. She had a neglecting father and her mother passed away while she was in her teen years. Her only sister she felt close with died from covid last Summer.

I’ve been unhappy with the relationship for about 4 years but I always get the feeling that things will get better. She actually has made big improvements on her drinking problem that she used to have. However, the relationship itself has taken a toll on my own mental health. I have more anxiety than I used to have but it may be due to medications/life events other than my marriage. We’ve been together for about 8 years and married for 1 year. I wasn’t ready for marriage but she’s been using money for tuition as an excuse for her to not go back to school, so I married her in hopes for her to get her life on track. She was able to get her tuition paid for through my employer benefits. She ended up failing too many classes, therefore terminating her tuition assistance.

She is about to quit her bookkeeping job (because of stress) and do Uber eats- which is ok if I knew what her goals were for the future. The problem is that she doesn’t have any goals or motivation to do anything for herself. She can’t tell me any goals of Her’s and gets upset when I ask her. I have to frequently remind her to take care of herself (dental hygiene, career searching/research, exercise, nutrition, etc)and it’s just a major turn off to do so. I told her many times that I don’t want to tell her what to do.

I bought her a trench coat and had it altered for her and she doesn’t wear it because she doesn’t care to buy pants to go with it. I could’ve bought pants for her too but why should I? I want her to want to take care of herself.

Part of me and my whole family are saying to leave her, but the other loving part of me is telling me to support her, stay in the relationship, and ignore my own feelings about the relationship because she’s in pain right now. She just started medicating a couple months ago (Prozac) and she’s been depressed most of her life.

Should I consider the fact that she just started medicating and wait for change a bit longer?

It makes alot of sense. I've been feeling this way since I was 11, but I never thought it was a problem, I thought this was just the way I was. I remember hating myself and thinking I was going to be homeless because I did bad in school, then developed social anxiety and had no friends for all of middle school and HS. I never related to people who said they want to go back to their childhood because they were happy then and now I know why. Hopefully I'll cure this shit.

So, I was just diagnosed today with Dysthymia. As this is the first I've ever heard of it I'm a little nervous about treatment.
I understand that exercise and therapy play a large role in managing it, but I was told that I will also have to take medication.

Who has had experience with medication and what should I expect as far as what/how they will prescribe me?

Hello /r/dysthymia,

I discovered Reddit something like 10 years ago.

Back when I thought that merely mentioning the word mental health meant "I'm a crazy person, lock me up now," it was the first way I knew of to talk to other human beings about what I was going through.

As time has marched on, and I've disclosed a few things on my blog (I've seen a therapist, I have ADHD), I've become progressively more comfortable with sharing details of my journey.

Most people tell their peers first and then post online. I kind of did it the opposite way around and actually find it easier to share my diagnosis to people I don't know (ie "the internet"). What can I say? I grew up with computers. But whatever works, right?

These days, I do 90% of my Reddit-ing from an account tied to my name (this one). I make no attempt to disguise my identity. The only use I have for an alt account is to occasionally ask something very specific about medication. That stills makes me a little uneasy. The less I use it the better, from my perspective. I believe in breaking down the stigma. Even if that means the odd person (prospective employer etc) may chance upon posts like this and judge me negatively. I'm still happy to do it.

Anyway - here's where I am right now. Received a diagnosis of ADHD about a year ago - although the doc mentioned that depression was a possibility too. Trialed every major stimulant there is. All helped me enormously with energy but ultimately ended up really exacerbating the depression.

I think my depression fits into the classic dythymia mold (that's not self-diagnosis, also a real doctor's). I rarely get very depressed. But struggle constantly with shifting a mild blanket of negativity and hopelessness that I can't help but notice doesn't affect my peers.

Strangely, getting my gallbladder out has been the catalyst for taking the diagnostic process forward. That's caused a bunch of digestive problems which means that every substance I ingest has come under scrutiny - from caffeine to alcohol. The treatment for a lot of GI disorders is psych drugs - so that was also a great way to get over my fears of medication. Before I tried my first one, I was terrified of taking any "pill".

Right now, I'm working through the fatigue of coming off Vyvanse. And then hoping to get on something that will be good for both my brain and stomach. Proving surprisingly difficult so far as some docs seem to want to overreach their specialization.

Good to meet everybo

I’ve been going through a rough patch this last 10 months or so and that’s when I discovered that I probably have dysthymia (therapist wouldn’t diagnose me but she did say I have mild depression and pretty bad anxiety).

Anyway, I’m through the rough patch (purely due to me being removed from the situation- not some sort of breakthrough or anything) and I feel fine and almost forgot how bad it was just few months ago. I stopped seeing my therapist and convinced myself to write it off as one off event. That is until I was back in that stressful environment for a very short period and it was 0 to 100 instantly.

So to sum it up, does dysthymia permeate all through your life constantly or does it come and go depending on situation environment?

I've had several failed relationships and I wonder if it's possible for a person with dysthymia to be successful in terms of dating, etc?

What are some tips you could give?;

Just when I thought I should continue trying to be better lmfao whats the point.

Hello,

have you guys experience with Keto for depression/dysthymia/anhedonia?

If so, when did the first things get better?
Is there a chance i can ever eat carbs again? (If, maybe, the inflammation is gone)

Im right now on day 9 and i think is super hard to stay keto.
I don't have any side effects (maybe because i fasted a day here and there), except black stool, and saw some interesting effects so far:
On day 3, super euphoric like i have never been before, from day 4 to now it went back to baseline though.
Vision got a bit clear i think, hard to describe. I wear glasses and they are definately fine but i still see more sharp.
Maaaaybe, i don't really know, better access to my feelings but jeah, just had a hard time for some reasons and had to confront me with them anyway..

First of all: English isn’t my native language. So please bear with my mistakes.

I got diagnosed with dysthymia (a form of slowly growing depression) a long time ago, and I can cope with it most of the time.

Sometimes on the other hand it just kicks me right in the gut and I barely able to be a functional member of society.

When I first started the game I didn’t think much of it. „Huh. Pretty cool puzzle game.“

A few fun riddles here, a few trial an error passages there.

But at some point I started to feel lost. Lost in the Game. Lost in my thoughts. Trapped in my own mind like I (sadly) am kinda used too.

Anxiety and depression built up till the point where I wasn’t sure if I could handle more of this game.

But I held throughout and just played it. And then the narrator Glenn Pierce began his really long monologue about „overcome obstacles by changing your perspective“ and „not giving up“.

I won’t say it „heals“ me in any way, but it helps me to understand me, myself and my problems much more.

Sometimes perspective is what hinders me to achieve anything in life. It feels like I am unable to do any more than just getting out of bed and feeding my cats.

But the more I think about perspective in general, I kinda accept that who hinders me the most is me. Not everytime I will be able to function as planned, but I think I will just wait a couple of moments and just try to rethink my most actual problems. From another perspective.

It might not be the best game in the world, but it sure did help me to accept who I am and how I see my problems.

Again, I am sorry for grammatical mistakes Ingrid wall of text, but I just needed a point where I could express what I was feeling the last few hours/days.

Thank you for sticking with me.

TLDR; What are your experiences with medication or alternatives? Would you recommend it or not? I’m asking because I’m considering using medication/alternatives myself

Hi everyone, Today I (22F) have come to this sub to ask for some advice I guess, well not really advice but mostly I just want to know what other people’s experience has been with using medication to battle depression/dysthymia. I’d like to know because I’m thinking about starting with medication.

It has been suggested to me before by the therapist I was seeing back then (6yrs ago) but I have always refused. I didn’t want my feelings to be “less genuine”, or to “lose myself”/become a different person that others (maybe even including myself) wouldn’t recognize anymore. I was (and am) also afraid of depending on medication. I do actually want to have a family, definitely not now, but I guess in or within 10 years I’d like to; so that would mean, for me (I don’t believe this is mandatory or something, but I personally don’t wanna be on the meds while pregnant (or breastfeeding)), that there will be times in my life that I’ll have to stop taking the medication again.

Most of these reasons that have kept me from trying medication in the past are still relevant to me. However, I’ve just come to a point where I’m really just getting sicker of the battle that seems to be constant. I first started therapy over ten years ago. I still am in therapy but I feel as if therapy cannot offer me more things long term than it already has. If anyone feels they should know more about my ‘journey’, you’re absolutely welcome to ask. I’m just not going into too much detail in this post because I don’t know what should be relevant to mention here. But yes, apart from all the years of therapy (different therapies with different therapists), I have definitely also tried, and am still applying, other things. My lifestyle is different and is organized in a way that I can maintain life best. I’m trying so hard, every day, hour, etc. My depression has taken over my life; I want to live life living, not ‘live’ life trying not to succumb to suicidal thoughts. I think I deserve an ‘actual life’, I think everyone does deserve that.

It just feels like there’s only so much you can do.

I’m sorry if this post was a little hectic. It’s just a subject that makes me very emotional, I guess partly because the whole starting with medication is also me admitting (and eventually accepting more) that I’m ill. Plus this isn’t m