Depressive personality disorder

Depressive personality disorder is a proposed pattern of persistent depressive thoughts, behaviors, and interpersonal styles. It appeared in the DSM-IV research appendix but is not a current standalone diagnosis.

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Personality disorder: A persistent, inflexible pattern of inner experience and behavior that causes distress or impairment. The proposal treated depressive traits as a pervasive personality pattern rather than an episodic mood state.
DSM-IV: The 1994 edition of the American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic manual, revised in 2000. It placed depressive personality disorder among conditions needing further study.
Persistent depressive disorder: A chronic depressive disorder involving a depressed mood lasting at least two years in adults. It is a current diagnosis that captures chronic depressive symptoms without a separate personality-disorder label.
Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders: A semistructured interview designed to assess DSM-IV personality disorders. Researchers used structured personality interviews to assess proposed depressive personality features.
Depressive episode: A sustained period of depressive symptoms that marks a change from a person's usual functioning. An episode is time-limited; the proposed disorder described enduring traits across contexts.
DSM-5: The 2013 edition of the American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic manual. It did not establish depressive personality disorder as a standalone diagnosis.
Avoidant personality disorder: A personality disorder marked by social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and sensitivity to rejection. Both patterns can involve low self-worth and withdrawal, but avoidance centers on rejection fears.
Personality Assessment Inventory: A self-report inventory that assesses personality, psychopathology, and interpersonal functioning in adults. Its depression-related scales can help characterize symptoms that overlap with the proposal.
Major depressive disorder: A mood disorder involving one or more episodes of clinically significant depressive symptoms. Its episodic course differs from the chronic personality pattern proposed here.
DSM-5-TR: The 2022 text revision of the fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic manual. It retains the absence of a standalone depressive personality disorder diagnosis.