Hi MM thankyou for your post.
I have dysthymia also and bipolar 2 and depression.
I would, like Chloekat recommend a mental health plan. This will be your second important step in caring for yourself, the first being getting to the doctor in the first place and I commend you highly for that action.
I'm struggling to understand why your doctor told you that you might be "a little more melancholy than most" or similar words. That is what dysthymia is. My cycle used to be 8-10 weeks of being ok then a 10 day period of falling into an emotional heap. During this time I'd write poetry, wonder what my purpose was in life and zone out into emotional places in my mind. Interesting enough was when I visited my psychiatrist in 2009. I had been misdiagnosed with bipolar 1 7 years earlier. This psychiatrist however questioned me a lot on my childhood in particular any traumatic events that took place. I couldnt think of any, then I told him I had an episode when 12yo when I didnt speak for 3 months, not a word. Then he was really interested. I told him of an event in our backyard pool when my older brother had a diabetic 'turn' and nearly drowned. My shrink then told me that that event triggered the dysthymia. Very interesting.
I urge you to pursue this. You never know what might come out of your future interviews. In order to get well or at least manage your mental health you need to find out the source of the illness as best as you can.
Please, you have taken a major step many dont bother taking. You are brave enough to do that. Your doctor might not be fully trained in mental health and you have read up a lot to understand your possible condition. Keep going and take care.
