*Thank you so much for putting this out there!* This means so much for the people who do have it, appeciate it loads!

I don't feel high functioning at all. More like barely functioning. The only thing I excell at is hiding my depression.

I've had dysthymia my whole life. Was diagnosed at 7. My thought is it's just how i see the world. Or maybe I'm broken and don't wanna be fixed lest I lose who I am. Life is a cunning enemy.

This video is way more impactful than people telling us to just think more positively. Thanks for this

"This provides neurological evidence of the dulling of emotion that individuals with dysthymia have learned to use to protect themselves from overly strong negative feelings, compared to healthy people."

I’m so glad you talked about having people check their vitals! ( iron, vitamin thyroid) I was diagnosed with depression years ago, and went through 10 different meds, several therapist but nothing really helped. Only to find out 5 years ago that I was low on vitamins B,D and iron was critically low. Now that I’m within range of where my body should be I am so much better. I still have PDD but am off medication because I am also going through menopause and many of my symptoms have fallen away. (Not entirely but enough to notice a difference) I am angry at my Dr.s and therapists for pushing drugs on me first instead of seeing if I was vitamin deficient.

66 year old single woman. Depressed for as long as I can remember. I muddle my way through everyday. I have to work, I have no money. Just got fired from a job only 4 months in. I have 1 friend. Family is around but no one really knows anyone deeply. Strained family relations. I have all 6. On meds forever. When I really have had enough it will be a long drive off a short pier. Yeah, they'll be upset for a few days and then life will carry on. No one will remember me.

From what I found without medication, there is no helping when depression has you in the very deep end, you can do good habits but they are distractions at best. But at its worst depression is like an abusive partner you can be out and about socializing and doing good habits but when you are by yourself that partner begins to abuse you mentally like no other.

I've been sick for 15 years but always resisted the diagnosis of depression because i thought it was just a mood disorder, but I've only recently learned that brain fog, poor appetite and insomnia are symptoms of it and I have had those since the illness started. Good to learn also that exercise is something which can treat it.

I'm crying my eyes out right now😭 I just found out that this has a name, and I'm not alone😭 This friday is my first appointment with a specialized therapist. I'm almost 30 and for the first time since my 12th, there is a small shimmer of light in the darkness😭

I was diagnosed with PDD at 11 years old, and wasn’t treated for it for over a decade and lemme tell you When the psychiatrist asked me when the last time I felt happy was, I didn’t have an answer for him. It’s a demon for sure. It gets better though with treatment. DBT,CBT,medication and a strong support system are all great tools and I am very grateful I have access to it

Amazing job raising awareness and the practical tips are great! This kind of depression goes unnoticed in people by others and themselves so much it's great to see a video like this.

Perhaps it's only my perception, but I feel like not enough people know about dysthymia, one thing I wonder is if there would be more people seeking help if it was more well known, and if so, how much more.

This was very informative! I like how you clearly defined dysthymia.

I kind of had to confront myself lately on what is wrong with me. I am isolated and when I go out and am always on edge. I do CrossFit nearly everyday and it helps tremendously. But usually when I am at work is when it hits and I go through videos. This hits on what I go through. And yes seeking help is easier said than done because of the stigma. And I did go seek therapy but my therapist wasn’t for me. Just fed me a bunch of breathing exercises and power of positivity bs. I am at the conclusion where I don’t want therapy but I perhaps need therapy.

I didn't know I had a dysthymic disorder until I requested my record. It was very validating to read, as I knew I had depression with GAD and OCD. I did not know it was PDD, I was just told I had depression. I'm a hard charger and I think it was withheld because I get obsessed about self research and I may have been hung up on details. I'm not sure, but it all makes sense now. Stay well you beautiful souls ❤️

Ive been "dealing" with depression for 13 years now. I dont know how to even vet help. I can pretend im fine at work but when im home all i do is sleep i have no motivation to do anything. I dont know how to even start to get better. Im tired of being tired.

New sub here. "Depression" since I was 12 and I acted out a lot when I was young. I spent about 23 years on many different anti-depressants. I was very high functioning, finished my master's degree by 27, had a wonderful career and family. Finally, pushed my loving wife away and self sabotaged my 20 year career. Divorced 5 years now, I was finally diagnosed as a borderline with attachment disorder last year. Out of the fog of medication I gave up 5 years ago, learning to be self-aware and recognize my emotions. Unfortunately, I still feel very empty and just go through the motions everyday. I don't know if I can ever shake the underlying depression that still comes in waves. I try to have close relationships besides my friends, but the disorganized attachment still has me pushing people away. I'm trying to become more aware of those behaviors before I actually head down the path of breaking it off with women; I have ended 3 relationships since being divorced. Also, working on impulse control 🤫.

This touched me. I'm 6 of 6 for 10 years, and my Psychiatrist won't help with the only medication that has ever worked. My therapist asked worker's comp for more visits, but that's not how they work. Keep putting out these videos!

Thank you this is amazing I was diagnosed with depression just over two years ago and have be suffering from 3 or 4 of these symptoms pretty consistently for probably 14 months but have been too afraid to talk about it

Thanks for doing this video!!!! People just don't understand what going on!! They say just feel better!! A friend of mine just died of a heart attack at age 53 he had medical issues with high blood pressure but he had more issues with depression!!! I see depression as a silent killer!

Love how you are present with the information you're sharing, very authentic delivery 👌🏼

So many people hurting, my heart goes out to you all. I've had PDD since 1983. 41 years.

I live in northern ireland. Ive been in therapy for 5 years and only now got the diagnosis of dysthymia. The recommended therapy for me has a minimum of a 2 and a half year waiting list... I'm devastated. I've been asking for help for 5 years. Going private for care is out of the question as its so expensive... its so hard to recommend getting help because that help just isnt there sometimes ... :(

thank you for explaining it so well, great tool both for the ones trying to understand themselves, and also to share and educate others on what we have. thank you

Thanks for making this video. I suffer from PDD myself. But the more I learn about it the better ways I can cope and try to go about my days.

I’ve had all 6 for 6 years and lie to myself that it’s not real. Maintaining happiness feels like running underwater. It’s my own fault. I love someone who embarrassed me at work by cheating on me with other guys we work with. I never expressed my anger once about it. She doesn’t even know about half of them telling me and showing me texts. We finally broke up late 2016. 2015 was the happiest year of my life. She was the coolest girl and we both were very attracted to one another. Her ex was mad that we were together and eventually he was able to spread rumors that I was on drugs and that I lie to her about it. I told this girl everything about my personal life. She knew everything. We were on and off until dec of 2019 as far as openly dating. Everytime we would get back together she would cheat on me. I would feel my heart break open while trying to focus on not getting upset at work. I would go home and stare at the ceiling fan for hours and never get out of bed. I would start to find out little by little that my work associates were all laughing at me because she told them so much about my personal life. All the embarrassing stories I told her about my past etc.. It gives her some sort of power seeing me affected by all of this. But when I finally stopped letting her back into my life, she would become so depressed. The longer I would say no, the worse her depression got. I couldn’t stand seeing her like that. I experienced a little joy yeah, but deep down it would always make me want to help her and take away her sadness. As soon as I would, she would flip on me like a light switch.. anyways it’s been 6 years now of 6 days a week, first shift. Every morning I wake up I’m actually happy for the most part. It’s like a reset button has been hit. I then go to work and am laughed at and teased. Even the boss gets in on it. I play stupid and wait to come home and cry. The past few months my breathing has gotten loud. My heart rate becomes so high that I’m constantly out of breathe. The lower left side of my chest feels bruised. I wonder sometimes if it’s from the past 6 years of isolation after work and falling asleep knowing I have no one. My best friend has a family and is too busy to ever hang out. I’m so alone. I rent a 4 bedroom house and pay all bills on time. I never sleep anymore. 4 hours if I’m lucky. I literally feel like I’m slowly dying sometimes. It’s not from the break up or the fact that no one ever loved me the way she did our first year. Its not a break up heart ache. It’s overtime at work while feeling like the biggest loser. It’s the no matter how hard I try to maintain happiness and not care what others think To only still feel the dull pain in my heart. I love helping people and getting to know new people. But deep down I feel like I’m going to let people down and only show others what a failure I really am. There’s been no one I can turn to and vent. I just want to be happy and be a part of someone’s life.

Been living with this for most of my life. My dad just says i will eventually get better or shouldn't be on medication forever. Yeah ok. Find me a cure and ill stop being on medication. Ive been told to toughen up or that im too sensitive. With the way they act, its a miracle im with some one who loves me for who i am. Im in therapy, im relatively healthy, i take medication. And i still suffer on plenty of days to count. I want to be better but i cant. I have better days here and there and try to keep moving. I must work or ill be broke. I must get out of bed, my loved one and my dog depend on me. But most days i just want to lay in bed and die. Trying to get better has not been for a lack of trying, its just more of a very slow low crawl uphill in mud. Nothing has broken through and any possible insights are short lived and covered by the memory of trauma. Its shitty and i fight myself everyday. I wish i could get better. Now i just manage it the best i can.

Everything in this world is constantly changing. We have a tendency to become overwhelmed by the here and now - but this too will pass. We need to have a change of direction if we want to have our hopes for a better future to become reality. Otherwise, we will just get more of the same. Feeling hopeless about the situation in the material world can be an impetus for beginning a rewarding spiritual journey that will uncover another more beautiful spiritual reality.

Thank you so much Alexa, This was me for decades.

Starts at 3:48

This hit home... good stuff lex! 💪🏻❤️

Thank u for ur concern! I have been struggling with it for 5 years now. But I have almost all these symptoms all the time

You definitely got me with that award ceremony lol

I sort of ignored my long term depression because I thought it was normal persistence, thank you for this 👍

If you're reading this I'm praying something amazing happens for you today.❤️🙏🏼

This was the best start to my day!

Thank you for this video. So much easier to understand because it was in "layman's terms".

The week goes by fast. Good to have this series on Sundays!

Life is bad enough as it is ................ without the additional inconvenience of being obliged to enjoy it as well

I think i might have this:( i sleep a lot, i don't Need to, but if you let me i sleep for like 14 hours... i also don't believe i can fix my life, i'm too shy, so making friends it's super hard. It's crazy cuz ppl like me but i cant keep in touch bc everything hurts so much. Everything tires me so much. I don't wanna do anything some days. I don't believe im worthy cuz im a lost cause fr. I feel like many times i have gold in my very hands, but not the strenght to wrap my fingers around it. It's so strange. I know what makes me happy or what might make me happy in a future, but id rather keep things the way they are. Im so afraid of the pain, im so afraid of the failure, im so afraid of the frustation. Hope hurts. So i don't have any motivation at all. It's been worse lately. I love my course in college but ive been skiping classes. Cuz i don't love things enough, they don't make me happy enough so i avoid them. Also cuz im really lazy and don't wanna take the bus. Or be there around ppl and feel wrong. My grandma has to bring my lunch for me in the bed somedays, i don't leave my bedroom. It's like the effort is not paid off. The effort of keep trying. At the same time, i do feel pure joy oftenly. Specially with family and friends, or some times studying, singing and writing. Im so excited abt many things, im an artist, im fun and free, i have so many dreams, i love so many things, i love life. So it really hurts not to be able to live like my soul asks me to. It's like a cloud bluring my vision. Like invisible rocks in my backpack. Idk. The hardest part it's the social. It's the one i feel i cant transpass. My therapist gives me lots of tips of things i could do to meet new ppl, they all seem so scary. I don't wanna hurt again. So i run of evertyhing i love, evertyhing im curious about, cuz nothing new is light to me. Its always a labor. Except my long time friends and family. I finally will have an apointment (dont know how spell this lol) with a psychariast (don't know how to spell this one either,:)) and im soo relieved. At the same time i still think im just weak and lazy and victimize myself. Im afraid she won't prescribe me meds.. 😁 cuz i feel honestly like i cant do it on my own. I can't. Don't want to. Yeah im weak, but what can i do? Im thinking my sister and my dad also have this disorder, so idk if i wanna have children anymore cuz i don't want them to suffer the same. :( that's sad

I agree that we need to classify depression carefully. However I think that there are many many people suffering from " depression " a depression that may be as unique as they as humans are unique! A lot of depression treatments don't work and its painful to hear people constantly suggesting them - nice of course for those for whom they are beneficial! In the end you just have to get on with it and struggle or muddle through. Some new research may turn up something worthwhile - my hunch is that depression is a genetic condition although a lot will disagree with that ! Best Wishes

This was a fantastic video , succinct and hits the main points - thank you very much.

Yup. 15yrs of pdd. Tried it all.

The worste part is feeling like you just arnt trying hard enough to be happy, believe in yourself, or chase your dreams but you really do just get used to it...

Interesting … especially the part where you mentioned the heart attack, followed by another within 2.5 yrs of the 1st … and the "symptoms" of persistent on going over an extended period of time … the moods/behaviour … 👍🏼

48 years of dysthymia here. Major depressive disorder, chronic anxiety and OCD. I would have already killed myself if I didn't fear death so much. Agoraphobia found its way into the mix as well.

I like how you dressed for the part. Very empathetic. "Certified alcohol and drug counselor". So which do you recommend? Wine and ritaline for the moms? Old school coke and whiskey for the distinguished gentleman? Benzos and SSRIs for those who want to have that dead fish feeling? On a more serious note, also get your sex hormone levels checked. Especially the men, low testosterone is the mind killer or a severe dysbalance between the sex hormones. But also estrogen for the ladies.

very valuable info 👍, it a very serious issue and people need to act more on it

What is the risk of Dysthimia progressing into Severe or Suicidal Depression?

thank you so much!!! you helped me to diagnose myself plus you helped me to get the needed informations for my seminar

Video good video. Was surprised to see you didn’t have more subscribers.

🎶 DEPRESSION, pushin down on meeee, pushin down on you 🎶

🇵🇸Well dear, I greet you on this special topic. I wish you good luck and lasting success. Coach Mohana, your friend.

Thank you so much, it was motivating and interesting. Subscribed, waiting for you to grow!

Great video as always, good work Alexa

It's just life...... Go to work, pay bill, cry alone, smile. Repeat.

Wow, thanks for the medal What an honor to have high functioning depression and hiding it perfectly. 😅 Im a f**king child bro AUGHH I HAVE HAD ALL SIX FOR 5 MONTHS I wasn’t diagnosed and people wont believe me if i think i have depression so what is the point in trying to make them believe

Treatment isn't widely available.. in rural areas it may be simply unavailable... if you're poor with bad insurance, it's even worse. GPs brush off issues because they know there's no practical way to address them.

Nice, check all six. Also add poor short term memory to the list.

I could probably be a great actor with how well I hide my symptoms

I'm a high functioning depressed. I work hard, I have a boyfriend and friends... I have a good life, but I still have this disorder. So I'm using energy drinks at morning and taking relaxing muscles pills to sleep at night. It's like i'm always with no energy, If I choose to sleep, I would sleep for days, but I have to do the stuffs anyway because my family depends on me.

May God bless everyone here.

This video really helps!

Great video thank you

Tips start ar 3:40 💕

I have bad depression doesn't seem to get better had it since I was 10 am now 18

New Subscriber. Great video and great snack choice ;)

The Oscars bit 😆😆 so good.

You think High Functioning is tough? Wait until you get a medical diagnosis that states MDD. Find what medicine and treatment works for you and don't be a bad person and you will get through this.

I have had moderate low iron for long time, and my vit D is severe low as well. Also, I have had so many burdens, setbacks, and too many disappointment that make me feel depressed all the time. I have not seen the doctor. But does that mean that I have to work on my low iron and vit D to get higher before going to doctor?

thank you for this :)

How do you know if your mood is low when you’ve always been like this but your doctor thinks you have this condition.

This video can cure INSOMNIA

So I have 6 symptomes my entire adolecent (till now ia am 37) life (recently got diagnosed with ADHD combined type with dysthymia disorder) always thought it was my personality and just had to ''fake'' a lot of the time by saying im ok

Great informative video.

Can Anger be a feature of PDD

As the saying goes, some things exist whether you believe it or not & the fact is that there are 3 mysteries of the Universe, namely; what is the meaning of life? Is there life after death & why do I exist when I have no right to? At some point, without fail, in one way, shape or form, each and every single person who has had the misfortune of encountering me, I have either upset and/or disappointed and/or outright pissed off because apparently that is what I do & I seem disturbingly good at it. Others who may feel insignificant or worthless and are battling whatever nightmare they are dealing with, & I sincerely wish everyone with those demons win a victory once and for all, but each person has a reason for their feelings, be it PTSD, abuse, whatever. I, on the other hand, actually AM worthless. Everything I have ever done or attempted has been an astoundingly resounding failure. Every person I meet, as mentioned, I end up pissing off in one way or another, to the point of them wanting absolutely nothing to do with me. So that tells me that the Universe has an interesting sense of humor insofar as if my purpose in life is to make people look at themselves in comparison & be thankful they are not the worthless, obnoxious, immature, pathetic, loathesome, disgusting abomination that I am & motivate them to continually strive not to be, then I guess I have found my calling.

So I have literally been depressed most of my life🤦‍♀

Poor concestration and low self esteem is what i have since very beginning

What if I won't treat high functioning depression?

Thank you

I cope since 45 years wiyh PDD ...

Never identified so much with a disorder.

What about IBD patients?

diagnosed with dysthymia for 7 years now

Whats a social life ?

What happens if you have all 6 of those signs for 7 years? 🤔

Watched a couple of videos about this. Which part of dysthemia is "high-functioning" ..? Is it merely because we try our damndest to live with it ? Emphasis on "try" because it's a whole lotta effort to put in. Also, that's not good enough for me. Is it because we can act better than an Oscar-winning actor on how to act like everything's fine and normal when we're in public, but at times on the verge of breaking down into uncontrollable sobs of ugly crying when alone with our thoughts ? Or is it because there are some of us who can only "function" as a vessel for a soul, only when we're "high" off of something, in order to get through another day with it. Or God forbid, relying, depending on substances, whatever they are. None of the videos I have seen thus far have explained this part. Sure, I get majority of my chores done before the sun is high above the head, and I get some sweat off of doing that. I try my best to shove food down my throat even though I've had enough, in order to gain a healthy weight. I've been told by elders for someone of my age, it's rare to be able to analyze things so detailed. I have the "gift of gab" as some has put it, and in a language that is not native to me (English). But I still feel like a piece of shit on a daily basis, leeching off of "life" for whatever's left of it, hoping I dont slit my arms again for the next foreseeable future.

When you hear increased chance of heart attack and your first thought is 'good'. Yeah I'm in trouble

Oh my… I have been like this for 30 years… ouch! 😅 you mean this isn’t normal?

Thankyou so much for the award 🤧🤣🥺

What is the difference between High Functioning Depression and Anhedonia?

I'm pretty sure I have this.

God bless those who mourn, for they will be comforted Matthew 5:4 if your feeling empty be filled with the holy spirit. God is love.

Been there before 😔

I have this and was wondering if I could get help

VERY DIFFERENT LOVED IT SO HELPFUL 💯👍👏🙏🌞🔱🧿👌🏻

what causes this how does this a occur must've had this for the past 17ish years

Is persistent depressive disorder permanent condition is there no hope to recover