I was reading a depression sourcebook tonight and the chapter on major depression, bipolar I and II mentions atypical depression. It sounds exactly like me. I've never come across any mention of it before, even though it's the most common of the depressive subtypes. Go figure.

You suffer the usual aspects of depression, but instead of the lack of sleep, loss of appetite, and weight loss, you need more sleep, have an increased appetite and gain weight, feel fatiged and weighted down, and complain of anxiety and suffer from phobias. Bingo, except for the phobias! Your mood is also reactive based on external stimuli. Something good happens, you feel how a "normal" person would feel, and may feel a bit high. But the normal moods are unstable, and if criticized or rejected the person suffering atypical depression will be devastated and relapse.

Treatment's the same as for depression - SSRIs or MAOIs but not tricyclics.

I have to take this book with me to my psych appt. It explains exactly what I go through.