How Are Anxiety And Depression Related?
Would it surprise you to hear that there’s a connection between many mood disorders? For most people, it would. After all, mood disorders all have different names for a reason. Issues such as anxiety, depression, or bipolar disorder affect our moods differently. So it may be hard to imagine that any of them could be closely related to one another. Anxiety and depression disorders are closely intertwined. It’s incredibly common for someone dealing with anxiety also to have depression or vice versa. To understand how they are connected, let’s first go over what each is.
What Is Anxiety?
Anxiety is our body’s natural response to danger and threats. Our ancient ancestors developed it as a way to keep them alive. Now known as the fight-or-flight mode, it allowed them to stay and fight through the danger. Or to flee from it. Now, even though we don’t live in this type of world, our bodies still remember this response. Even when there is no danger involved, our brains believe they are.
It’s normal to feel anxious or stressed. However, when the body is frequently anxious, it can lead to chronic anxiety becoming a part of everyday life, affecting someone’s ability to feel relaxed and on edge all the time. When someone is anxious, their symptoms may present as feelings of restlessness, causing trouble sleeping and making it difficult to concentrate or make decisions, among other symptoms.
What Is Depression?
We all get sad sometimes. However, if this feeling lasts more than two weeks, it could indicate something more is going on. Depression is far more than just being sad, although that is a hallmark symptom. Depression can be caused by environmental (life circumstances), biological/hereditary reasons, or genetics. For someone who is feeling depressed, they may experience feelings of hopelessness, irritability, anger, low energy, or sleeping a lot.
What Is The Connection Between Depression And Anxiety?
We mentioned earlier that someone experiencing anxiety might also be dealing with depression. When you consider that someone with anxiety is on high alert and depression is feeling low—it can seem impossible that experiencing both is possible. Mood disorders, in general, are a cycle that is hard to escape. And this is where we start to see the true connection between anxiety and depression.
When we are feeling anxious, we are excessively worrying about something. Which then causes us to feel negative about these thoughts. Then, that turns into feeling bad about feeling this way. In turn, this leads to feeling like we are failing somehow. And then depression sets in as our brains cycle through the negativity and self-loathing.
Another connection between anxiety and depression is that they often begin in childhood or teenage years. However, they are very rarely called anxiety or depression in people this young.
Symptoms of Anxiety And Depression
If someone is experiencing both anxiety and depression, they may deal with any of the following symptoms:
Excessive worrying that won’t go away
Difficulty focusing or making decisions
Loss of interest in activities
Not being able to relax
Feeling tired all the time but still really restless
Headaches, stomach aches, or difficulty breathing
How To Treat Depression And Anxiety
Cycling through these two different yet similar mood disorders can feel very challenging. However, it’s important to note that they are two of the most treatable mental health conditions. In both cases, they very rarely go away on their own. In fact, without treatment, they can progressively get worse and completely out of control.
If you are struggling with excessive worrying or feeling down, don’t hesitate to contact me for depression treatment or anxiety therapy. I can help you learn to manage both of these conditions so you can get back to feeling your best.
