Atypical depression - actually a common subtype of depression. Do you have it?

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.

Hi @Samicat - glad you joined MSF. Sorry you feel the psych field will not give you that diagnosis.

My experience is that professionals kind of balk when I start telling them what I think the problem is. Diagnosis is very difficult because symptoms overlap and symptoms also change. Sometimes different professionals focus on one thing and another on another.

For me the important thing is to make a coping strategy for myself. I try to observe where my condition disrupts my life most and find ways to alleviate that if possible. I do regular exercise classes, stick to a high protein low carb diet, practice mindfulness and socialize with people that support me and my lifestyle.

I hope you find the support you are looking for. @CANDC

My psychiatrist, whom I saw for 12 years, agreed that I had atypical depression - for some reason she didn't seem to think it was important. Maybe there's no difference in treatment?


Anyway I am very interested in hearing from others who may have these symptoms.

@samicat was your psychiatrist prescribing meds for that? If so they took it seriously. Also their seeing you for 12 years sounds serious to me.

I guess looking at the definition of Atypical Depression might shed a few clues

Quote:

Atypical depression Atypical depression is defined in the DSM IV as depression that shares many of the typical symptoms of major depressive disorder or dysthymia but is characterized by improved mood in response to positive events.Wikipedia

What I take from that is with atypical depression, if something good happens the depression diminishes or goes away. I think many people are undiagnosed have atypical depression. I know some people who when they are depressed, they go shopping and buy some things and feel better.

Any depression that disrupts our life I think is serious, so thank you for taking your situation seriously and doing what you need to do to cope with things.

something that may help - in march 2022 mental disorders went through a major change. there is no disorder called - Atypical Depression.

Atypical is now a "specifying feature" for all depressive disorders.

what that means is when a person is diagnosed with any depression disorders the treatment provider must specify (state, say, note in the files, completely inform their clients about) whether a person has any of the specified "atypical features" that are listed in the DSM 5 TR.

there are many different kinds of depression disorders and with each one "atypical features" can happen with each of them and are noted by the treatment provider.

you can read more about all the various depressive disorders in the DSM 5 TR pages 177- 214. please do not try and self-diagnose by what you are finding in media-based resources like the internet. all symptoms, problems and behaviors for mental disorders found in media-based ways has been removed for most mental disorders since March 2022.

if you feel you have a depressive disorder with a specifier of any "atypical features" please contact a treatment provider. they can give you the information that you need directly related to your specific symptoms, problems and behaviors.

I feel like I have been deeply misunderstood here. I am not saying my psychiatrist failed to take my depression seriously (merely the fact that I had some "atypical" symptoms.), nor am I self-diagnosing. Thank you amandalouise for the very helpful information and I will discuss it with a professional.

My last major depression was similar to your description. I slept a lot, often 16 hours a day, felt heavy and lacked motivation. I lost a lot of weight, enough that sitting on a hard chair was very uncomfortable. My emotions completely disappeared for about a month and I neglected myself. In the mornings the depression was at its worst and usually improved as the day progressed. The depression fluctuated. Some days were better than others. - This seems to be true for any kind of chronic illness.

My mood could have been reactive, but I can't say for sure since I was living alone and rarely interacted with people at that time. A friend sometimes came over and his visits often helped and got me out of my head. It could also be explained by the fluctuating nature of the illness.

I have always wondered if the persistent worrying and anxiety disorder were the cause of the exhaustion and oversleeping. Anxiety really does wear me out even without being depressed.