cyclothymia

noun

cy·​clo·​thy·​mia ˌsī-klə-ˈthī-mē-ə 

: a mood disorder characterized by alternating episodes of depression and elation in a form less severe than that of bipolar disorder

Cyclothymia is a mild form of bipolar disorder with short and irregular cycles of nervousness and lethargy, pessimism and optimism, insomnia and oversleeping, tearfulness and jocularity, arrogance and self-pity, passionate involvement and sudden loss of interest.

—Lester Grinspoon

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from German Cyklothymie (now Zyklothymie), from cyklo- cyclo- + -thymie, as in Dysthymie dysthymia

Note: The term was introduced by the German psychiatrist Karl Kahlbaum (1828-99) in "Ueber cyklisches Irresein," Der Irrenfreund: Psychiatrische Monatschrift für praktische Aerzte, 24. Jahrgang (1882), Nr. 10, p. 155.

First Known Use

1882, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

cyclothymia

noun

cy·​clo·​thy·​mia ˌsī-klə-ˈthī-mē-ə 

: a mood disorder characterized by alternating episodes of depression and elation in a form less severe than that of bipolar disorder