Depressive Personality Disorder..

silvermist · 10-05-2009, 03:48 PM

I have just remembered that the physciatrist I saw the other day said I have Depressive Personality Disorder.

What exactly is it, does anybody know?

Any info would be appreciated.

<3

one_step_closer · 10-05-2009, 03:50 PM

It might be dysthymia, i've never heard of it being called depressive personality disorder. There is another thread about this here.

silvermist · 10-05-2009, 03:51 PM

Okay, thank you :)

plastic rose · 10-05-2009, 05:01 PM

There's no such thing... he probably meant you have dysthymia.

silvermist · 10-05-2009, 05:50 PM

I wonder why he didn't just say that then.. hmm.

Must have been what he meant then, thanks :)

whirlpools · 10-05-2009, 05:55 PM

maybe you could ask him? i've never heard of it before, but if your psychiatrist has made it as a diagnosis, it must be a true thing. maybe it is just another term for Dysthymia, i don't know. xxx

silvermist · 10-05-2009, 05:59 PM

I can't actually remember if he said disorder or not, I think he did? But I know he definately said for sure I have a depressive personality. Unfortunately he was just a physciatrist I saw at the hospital so not one I am going to see on a regular basis. However, after reading about dysthymia, it does sound an awful lot like how I have been feeling and considering it mentions it's usually diagnosed after 2 years+ of continuous depression and very low mood, I think that is probably what he meant since I have had this for quite a few years and never seen a doctor about it until a few weeks ago. x

plastic rose · 10-05-2009, 06:09 PM

He might have said you have a 'depressive personality' (whatever that means.) but there is definitely no Depressive Personality Disorder. Maybe he made it up. :)

silvermist · 10-05-2009, 06:23 PM

Ahh okay, I was wondering why I couldn't find much information on google about it lol. I didn't think to ask him what he meant, I was too shocked by everything else going on around me for my first time, kind of wish I did now! x

one_step_closer · 10-05-2009, 07:33 PM

Yeah, 'depressive personality' might make more sense, it could just be the way that you relate to the world. Perhaps you could mention it to your regular psychiatrist and see what they think.

one lie at a time · 11-05-2009, 05:24 AM

I thought they were considering Depressive Personality Disorder for the next DSM?

"The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (American Psychiatric Association, 1994, pg. 733), for research purposes, describes Depressive Personality Disorder as a pervasive pattern of depressive cognitions and behaviors beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:

usual mood is dominated by dejection, gloominess, cheerlessness, joylessness, unhappiness;
self-concept centers around beliefs of inadequacy, worthlessness, and low self-esteem;
is critical, blaming, and derogatory toward self;
is brooding and given to worry;
is negativistic, critical, and judgmental toward others;
is pessimistic;
is prone to feeling guilty or remorseful.

The disorder does not occur exclusively during Major Depressive Episodes and is not better accounted for by Dysthymic Disorder."

http://www.ptypes.com/depressivepd.html

He probably did say Depressive Personality Disorder.

Sigma · 11-05-2009, 06:50 AM

^ how does that differ from dysthymia?

plastic rose · 11-05-2009, 07:26 AM

My bad. I hadn't heard of it before, most likely because it's not in the DSM yet and it's definitely not in the ICD, so technically it's not a recognised condition yet. It's quite unusual for psychiatrists to make diagnoses which aren't yet recognised conditions, but that could well have been what happened. I don't know if it'll get in. A lot of personality disorders are highly contested diagnoses, mostly because diagnoses are only useful if they tell you something about how to treat the person, and personality disorders tend to be very hard to treat (some practically impossible to treat). But if they think there are people suffering from such a disorder and they can treat it then I guess it should go in.

silvermist · 11-05-2009, 03:59 PM

Oooh so there is DPD but it's just not a recognised condition yet. Hmm interesting.

Thanks guys x

slacker · 11-05-2009, 05:13 PM

couple of years ago was told by an nhs researcher who is a DSM contributor that DSM 5 is going to phase out PDs in order of a completely different index which is more based on symptom scales rather than 'types'

labels! can be a helpful guide for treatment but shouldn't be used as a rubber stamp on the forehead for people

there's a basic wiki writup at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depress...ality_disorder