[CptJaneway]

Hi everyone, this is my first post.

I am in my mid 40s and have been dealing with depression for most of my adult life. A couple of years ago I was re-diagnosed with dysthymia. I had never heard of it, but it seems to be the right diagnosis for me.

I know lots of people with depression, but I don't know anyone with a diagnosis of dysthymia. So I would like to find other people with this diagnosis. I'm trying to figure out who I am, and how much of that is because of dysthymia, and what it means to have this disorder.

My therapist mentioned that dysthymia can be quite hard to treat, compared with episodes of depression that come and go. I'm glad she was honest about it, and I believe she is right, but it makes me feel sad. No one wants to have a disorder that is hard to treat, or that is persistent despite efforts to treat it.

I'm on Effexor, after trying over a dozen meds over the years. Most of them had side effects that were intolerable - like a severe rash, or high prolactin levels (ie not the kind of side effects you can just try to live with). I desperately wanted to be able to take some of these meds but I couldn't. Effexor keeps me well enough to function, I guess, but I still have a lot of symptoms of low mood and anxiety. I don't think there is another med that would be better for me. I live in hope that one might be developed in the future.

I find therapy helpful but it is hard to understand and learn what I need to change. I also have mild Aspergers (which I know is now called ASD). So I find it hard to think in the abstract, which might help me do cognitive behavioural therapy successfully. My concentration, cognition and memory aren't great these days, which also create issues in this area. My therapist is always saying it's possible to work on my negative thought patterns but it doesn't feel possible. I want it to be though, so I keep trying to figure out how to do that.

Overall, I am trying to do my best to be positive, and active, and to have hope for the future. At the moment I am so tired... I have physical issues with fatigue... it's hard to be positive. But I feel that if I reach out here, finding others with dysthymia could help... at least in feeling that I am not alone.

I do have much to be grateful for... a stable home, family who care, access to healthcare... and these things are more than some people have. So I am not complaining. I just want to be healthier, like I was years ago.

Thank you in advance for your support and hugs.

[catnip123]

Welcome CptJaneway!
I have depression, not dysthymia, but I also have mild Asperger's. There is a book titled "Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Adult Asperger Syndrome" by Valerie Gauss that might help your therapist. I bought a copy for my T, and she tried some things from the book. I don't respond 'normally' to CBT, but it may work better for you. The same author has another book "Living Well on the Spectrum" that is written for people with ASD. It has some helpful information in it.
Hope you start to feel better soon

[JohnCrow]

Originally Posted by CptJaneway

Overall, I am trying to do my best to be positive, and active, and to have hope for the future. At the moment I am so tired... I have physical issues with fatigue... it's hard to be positive. But I feel that if I reach out here, finding others with dysthymia could help... at least in feeling that I am not alone.

You are not. This has been my flavour of mental illness for many years

I am just past being in my forties and while surviving past 50 is unexpected, I still have minimal coping skills (having developed mental blocks to cope with the peaks of my depression, which, although they enable me to act more or less normal, means I cannot break out of them. LIke most self constructed mental defences, this is a patch on a badly leaking dyke

[Gazelle98]

I was diagnosed with dysthymia in my 20s and was on Effexor. I spent a few years in therapy - it was hard, and often difficult to see how it was helping, but worthwhile in the end. The meds were eventually stopped and I've managed since then ... so hang in there - there can be hope, even if it doesn't seem like it at the moment.