As dysthymia is a chronic disorder, those with the condition may experience symptoms for many years before it is diagnosed, if diagnosis occurs at all. As a result, they may believe that depression is a part of their character, so they may not even discuss their symptoms with doctors, family members or friends. In terms of official diagnostic entities, DSM-5 removed dysthymic disorder (DSM-IV), and introduced a new psychiatric construct: persistent depressive disorder. The DSM-5 authors explained that this new disorder subsumes the DSM-IV diagnoses of chronic major depressive disorder and dysthymic disorder.[3] This change arose from research showing no evidence for meaningful differences between chronic major depressive disorder and dysthymic disorder.[10]
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Drs; Sartorius, Norman; Henderson, A.S.; Strotzka, H.; Lipowski, Z.; Yu-cun, Shen; You-xin, Xu; Strömgren, E.; Glatzel, J.; Kühne, G.-E.; Misès, R.; Soldatos, C.R.; Pull, C.B.; Giel, R.; Jegede, R.; Malt, U.; Nadzharov, R.A.; Smulevitch, A.B.; Hagberg, B.; Perris, C.; Scharfetter, C.; Clare, A.; Cooper, J.E.; Corbett, J.A.; Griffith Edwards, J.; Gelder, M.; Goldberg, D.; Gossop, M.; Graham, P.; Kendell, R.E.; Marks, I.; Russell, G.; Rutter, M.; Shepherd, M.; West, D.J.; Wing, J.; Wing, L.; Neki, J.S.; Benson, F.; Cantwell, D.; Guze, S.; Helzer, J.; Holzman, P.; Kleinman, A.; Kupfer, D.J.; Mezzich, J.; Spitzer, R.; Lokar, J. "The ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders Clinical descriptions and diagnostic guidelines"(PDF). www.who.int World Health Organization. Microsoft Word. bluebook.doc. p. 107. Archived(PDF) from the original on 17 October 2004. Retrieved 23 June 2021 – via Microsoft Bing.
^Gilbert, Daniel T.; Schacter, Daniel L.; Wegner, Daniel M., eds. (2011). Psychology (2nd ed.). New York: Worth Publishers. pp. 564. ISBN978-1-4292-3719-2.
^"Dysthymia". Harvard Health Publications. Harvard University. February 2005. Archived from the original(February 2005 issue of the Harvard Mental Health Letter) on 6 January 2010. Retrieved 12 December 2009.