Persistent depressive disorder is F34.1, and it is billable as written. The difficulty is the name: ICD-10-CM titles this code dysthymic disorder and lists “persistent depressive disorder” only as an inclusion term, so searching the code set for the DSM-5 name does not find the heading. This is also not an F32 or F33 code — persistent depressive disorder sits in a different family from major depressive disorder, and using F32.9 for it is a common and avoidable error. Below: the F34 table and the distinction.
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| Code | F34.1 |
|---|---|
| Official ICD-10-CM title | Dysthymic disorder |
| Billable? | Yes — a specific code, valid for submission |
| Category | F34 — Persistent mood [affective] disorders |
| Chapter | F01–F99, Mental, behavioral and neurodevelopmental disorders |
ICD-10-CM lists six inclusion terms under this code, which is unusually many and tells you how much terminology has changed around it:
None of these is a separate code. Note the last one in particular: persistent anxiety depression codes here, at F34.1 — while anxiety depression that is mild or not persistent is an Excludes2 pointing to F41.8. Persistence is what decides between them.
| Code | Title | Billable? |
|---|---|---|
| F34 | Persistent mood [affective] disorders (category header) | No |
| F34.0 | Cyclothymic disorder | Yes |
| F34.1 | Dysthymic disorder | Yes |
| F34.8 | Other persistent mood [affective] disorders (incomplete) | No |
| F34.81 | Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder | Yes |
| F34.89 | Other specified persistent mood disorders | Yes |
| F34.9 | Persistent mood [affective] disorder, unspecified | Yes |
Worth noting that disruptive mood dysregulation disorder is F34.81, inside this family rather than with the childhood behavioural disorders where people often look for it. F34.8 itself is incomplete and will be rejected.
The distinction is duration and course, and it decides the family. F32 and F33 code a depressive episode — single or recurrent — with a severity. F34.1 codes a persistent depressed mood that has continued for years rather than resolving between episodes. Because the two families sit apart, there is no severity character on F34.1 at all: there is nothing to choose between mild, moderate and severe, and no unspecified-versus-specified trap of the kind F32.9 creates.
Coding persistent depressive disorder as F32.9 is the error to avoid. It reads as a single depressive episode of unstated severity, which is a materially different clinical picture and a weaker record if the claim is reviewed.
DSM-5 merged DSM-IV's dysthymic disorder and chronic major depressive disorder into a single diagnosis, persistent depressive disorder, and prints F34.1 beside it. ICD-10-CM kept the older title, which is why the two names sit on one code.
DSM-5's specifiers for this diagnosis — with pure dysthymic syndrome, with persistent major depressive episode, with intermittent major depressive episodes — do not change the code. There is no more specific ICD-10-CM code to move to, so F34.1 carries all of them.
| CPT | Service | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 90791 | Psychiatric diagnostic evaluation (no medical services) | — |
| 90832 | Individual psychotherapy | 16–37 minutes |
| 90834 | Individual psychotherapy | 38–52 minutes |
| 90837 | Individual psychotherapy | 53 minutes or more |
| 90847 | Family psychotherapy, patient present | 50 minutes typical |
| 90853 | Group psychotherapy | — |
A 50-minute session is 90834, not 90837 — 90837 begins at 53 minutes. CMS also sets a floor: psychotherapy under 16 minutes is not reported with these codes at all.
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Yes. F34.1 is a specific code and valid for submission. F34 on its own is a category header and F34.8 is incomplete.
F34.1. ICD-10-CM titles the code 'dysthymic disorder' and lists persistent depressive disorder as an inclusion term, so both names use the same code.
No. F32 and F33 code a depressive episode with a severity, while F34.1 codes a persistent depressed mood lasting years. Using F32.9 records a materially different clinical picture.
F34.81, inside the persistent mood disorder family rather than with the childhood behavioural disorders.
No. Unlike F32 and F33 there is no severity character on F34.1, and DSM-5's specifiers for persistent depressive disorder do not change the code.
Check a code with Afia — freeCodes on this page were verified against the CMS ICD-10-CM code sets for FY2026 and FY2027 (FY2027 effective 1 October 2026). Last reviewed 19 September 2026. Verify against the current official code set before submitting.