Dysthymic Disorder is characterized by a chronic depressed mood for more days than not over a period of two years or more. Common symptoms are low energy, fatigue, sleep disorders, low self-esteem and feelings of hopelessness. Sometimes, the presenting complaint is indecisiveness and trouble making decisions. Generally, the point prevelence is 3% and the lifetime prevalence is 6%. The usual treatment is psychotherapy, individual,group or family: some individuals report response to one or more of the antidepressants to a greater or lesser degree. Generally, antidepressants are less effective in this disorder than in more acute and serious, biological depressions.
The only other tip I can give you is to find out not what an individual wants to do, but what they don't want to do. The answer will often lead you to the type and nature of the psychotherapy.
Me being decidedly in the pull-up-yer-boot-straps-and-buckle-to-it camp, I have little patience for what I consider to be partly (I said partly, y'all) a self-induced character flaw. Y'all can start in now with "you don't understand! It's a disease! It's a chemical imbalance! You insensitive clod" but let me ask you this-- how does one really know how much of the behavior in question stems from genuine illness of sorts, and how much is, as I said above, manipulation on the part of the "affected" individual? One doesn't know. I admit that I tend to withhold benefit of doubt in this area...