Hi all. I'm new here and wondering if anyone else may have Atypical depression. Someone with this kind of depression meets the criteria for Dysthymia or Major Depression, but in addition shows some of the following symptoms:


- Often experienced depression in teens or early 20s

- Increased appetite or weight gain
- Excessive sleep
- Fatigue or weakness
- Mood reactivity - mood can improve in response to positive events or anticipation of such. But mood can plummet in response to rejection.
- Worsening mood in the evenings, perhaps linked to fatigue
- Feeling of being leaden or weighed down



You will notice that some of these are the opposite of the "typical" case symptoms of depression such as weight loss or morning depression.

People with atypical depression often have a harder time finding treatments that work

I will say more about my own experiences soon but wanted to see if anyone out there can identify. I've found it hard to get a diagnosis as some psychiatrists don't seem to think it's important if depression is atypical or typical.


I also suffer from extreme anxiety and not sure if this is linked to my atypical depression. For instance I am extroverted but get exhausted in many social settings due to high anxiety leading to extreme fatigue.