Dysthymia ( , from
Ancient Greek , "bad state of mind"), sometimes also called
neurotic depression,
dysthymic disorder, or
chronic depression, is a
mood disorder consisting of the same cognitive and physical problems as in
depression, with less severe but longer-lasting symptoms. The concept was coined by
Robert Spitzer as a replacement for the term "depressive personality" in the late 1970s. In 2013, when the American Psychiatric Association released the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders known as DSM-5, the name Dysthymia was changed to Persistent Depressive Disorder.