Basically,
lingering depression.
Dysthymic people tend to feel
detached, unhappy, tired, hopeless. While Dysthymic symptoms tend to be less severe than the symptoms found in other, less permanent types of depression, they can
linger with a person for their entire life. Usually, in adults, mild depression that lasts for more than 2 years is the definition.
Most suffering from dysthymic depression couldn't tell you the last time they felt truely happy.
Sadly, this is one of the least treated, or diagnosed forms of depression, as the subject tends to believe that these feelings are normal. However, anti-depressants can be very effective in correcting
dysthymia.
Everyone said that he always seemed exceptionally
detached and
unhappy, but nobody knew he was suffering from
dysthymia.