How Is Depression Different From Anxiety
Depression is different from anxiety. Rather than feeling anxious and nervous, feelings of gloom and melancholy overwhelm. Feeling sad or down after experiencing a loss or disappointment is an emotion that everyone feels at one time or another. But when low mood and sadness is severe and lasts for long periods of time, it could be due to depression.
There are two main types of depression: Major Depressive Disorder and Persistent Depressive Disorder . While the signs and symptoms of both are similar, the intensity and duration differ. Symptoms of both Major Depressive Disorder and dysthymia include:
- Sleep disruptions
Depression Anxiety And Addiction
The Anger-Hurt-Loving model peels back the curtain and allows us a glimpse of whats usually driving addictive behaviors: untreated mental and emotional health issues. The model is key to understanding anger and addiction as well.
Heres what it looks like:
Heres an explanation of how it works:
- Behind every feeling of anger, there is an underlying hurt. We get angry when something we cant tolerate is present, or something that we need is absent. Either way, the reason were angry is because a part of us is hurting.
- However, many of us were socialized not to feel or express our anger, so we push it down and inward. The first diagonal line in the model represents how we cut ourselves off from the feeling of anger. As you now know, anger turned inward becomes depression.
- Now weve refused to feel our anger, chances are we dont want to feel our hurts, either. So we cut ourselves off from that uncomfortable felt experience as well, hence the second diagonal line on the model.
- Since were not feeling our hurt or our anger, our emotional energy that is, the up-and-down arrows in the model is bouncing back and forth between our internal walls.
And what do we call emotional energy bouncing back and forth? Thats right, anxiety.
Similarly, we define panic as the acceleration of anxiety. If anxiety is an emotional jog, then panic is a sprint.
The Result: Compounding Waves Of Depression And Anxiety
When chronic anxiety feeds into depression, an individuals thought patterns often create feedback loops. The more depressed one feels, the more anxious they feel about overcoming or getting rid of the unpleasant emotional state. When they cant control their thoughts and feelings, they feel more anxious about the apparent hopelessness of the situation, further feeding into depression. When a feedback loop between depression and anxiety exists, individuals frequently require guidance and treatment to develop the emotional stability to identify, treat, and heal underlying trauma.
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How To Treat Adhd And Anxiety
A healthcare or mental health professional, if one is available to you, can help you develop a management plan that will help you cope with both conditions. If in-person services are not an option for you, consider telehealth support over the phone or online.
The first step is appropriate diagnosis and management, Dr. Hamdani says. Its important to see a trained professional to delineate if this is ADHD, anxiety, or an underlying medical condition mimicking these conditions.
One thing to take into consideration is which of the two ADHD or anxiety affects you more, or has a greater impact on your daily functioning. This may inform your management plan.
A thorough evaluation might also be needed to rule out the possibility, or co-occurrence, of trauma.
What some diagnose as ADHD actually has a basis in trauma, Cassell says. ADHD can include hypervigilance, and tracking the environment and the people in it.
Whats more, Cassell says, in a hypervigilant state, theres going to be more anxiety.
Medication may be prescribed as part of your treatment plan. However, therapy might be preferable due to the potential for side effects from medications.
One such type of therapy, for example, might be condition-specific psycho-education for both you and your family.
If the co-occurrence of anxiety and ADHD sounds familiar to you, you may be wondering if your anxiety will impact your ADHD treatment.
How It Feels To Have Anxiety And Depression At The Same Time
Depression and anxiety each have their own sets of symptoms and challenges. And as if living with one of the conditions isnt frustrating enough, research also shows that its not unusual to experience the two of them simultaneously.
Unfortunately, having both anxiety and depression together is not an uncommon thing nearly half of those diagnosed with one are also diagnosed with the other, said Chad Perman, a licensed marriage and family therapist in Bellevue, Washington.
Both mental health conditions can be managed through therapy, medication or both. But while treatment makes it entirely possible to live a healthy, fulfilling life, that doesnt make the experience any less valid or challenging at times.
HuffPost reached out to people living with both depression and anxiety as well as experts who treat the conditions to explain how it really feels to live with them on a daily basis. Take a look at them below.
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Negative Stereotypes Often Keep You From Talking About Your Experience
My clients who deal with depression and anxiety yearn for someone to connect with who genuinely understands their struggles and feelings of isolation. But the fear of letting people down or being viewed in a different light often keeps them from reaching out for support and assistance. Erica N. Reed, a licensed clinical social worker in Lanham, Maryland
Four Reasons Anxiety And Depression Occur Together
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How Anxiety And Depression Can Be Treated Together
Both medications and therapy can be used to treat depression and anxiety. There are some types of medications that may be especially helpful for treating both. One of these types of medications are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors .
Your provider might also talk to you about lifestyle changes, which can sometimes help with depression and anxiety. Examples include getting regular sleep, eating well, and exercising. Meditating and practicing mindfulness may also help with your recovery.
Because depression and anxiety may fuel each other, it can sometimes take longer to treat their combined symptoms.
Does Medication For Depression And Anxiety Work
A group of medications known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors have been shown to be helpful for both anxiety and depression.
Anti-anxiety medications have also been shown to reduce anxiety among patients.
Note that you may need to try medication for six to eight weeks before you notice fuller effects.
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The Link Between Anxiety And Depression Disorder
Anxiety and depression disorders are not the same although there are similar elements. Depression generates emotions such as hopelessness, despair, and anger. Energy levels are usually very low, and depressed people often feel overwhelmed by the day-to-day tasks and personal relationships so essential to life.
A person with anxiety disorder, however, experiences fear, panic or anxiety in situations where most people would not feel anxious or threatened. The sufferer may experience sudden panic or anxiety attacks without any recognized trigger and often lives with constant nagging worry or anxiousness. Without treatment, anxiety and depression disorders can restrict a person’s ability to work, maintain relationships, or even leave the house.
Both anxiety and depression treatment are similar, which may explain why the two disorders are so often confused. Antidepressant medication is often used for anxiety and depression and behavioral therapy frequently helps people overcome both conditions.
Treatment Considerations For Comorbid Anxiety And Depression
Resolving anxiety quickly should be the first goal of treatment in patients with anxiety and depression. Once this objective is accomplished, patients are much more likely to remain compliant with their antidepressant regimen and to continue their therapy for the full duration necessary to achieve complete remission of their depression.
One choice for pharmacotherapy in patients with comorbid anxiety and depression is the combination of a BZD or buspirone with an antidepressant. Alternatively, some patients may respond to antidepressant therapy alone, provided a drug that is effective in treating both disorders is used. Because the traditional anxiolytics will have little if any effect on depression, an adequate course of therapy with an antidepressant is imperative. On the other hand, in patients treated with an antidepressant plus an anxiolytic, the clinician may consider tapering the anxiolytic slowly, then discontinuing it when the symptoms of acute anxiety have resolved. Because of their well-documented withdrawal effects, the BZDs should be tapered gradually over the course of at least several weeks, depending on the dosage and duration of BZD therapy.
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Finding The Right Resources To Answer Your Questions And Meet Your Complex Needs
Just as anxiety and depression tend to be worse when occurring together, treatment of these disorders is most effective when both conditions are addressed at the same time.1
Hartgrove Behavioral Health System provides integrated care that treats these and other mental health issues simultaneously. As part of our comprehensive care, medical specialists and therapists work together to help bring healing and balance in our patients lives a feeling of being in charge of their inner self again.
You Never Know How Your Anxiety Or Depression Is Going To Show Up
You want to stay in bed for hours but you also want to get up first thing in the morning and overwork out of an overwhelming fear that youll miss out on a project or deadline. You care tremendously what everyone else thinks, and another part of you couldnt care less. Some days you even have anxiety attacks when youre out at social events, and others you cant find the energy to socialize. It often feels like your brain is at odds with itself. You oscillate from feeling down to feeling a lot of tension, and this can manifest in different ways. Beverly Friedmann, 30, a content manager in Brooklyn
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Why Does It Matter Whether You Have Anxiety Depression Or Both
It can be valuable to understand whether you have anxiety, depression, or both. For example, the right diagnosis can help you and your provider put together a treatment plan. This treatment plan is as unique as you are. It should target the symptoms that bother you the most. If you have anxiety and depression, your provider will take this into consideration. In fact, your provider may even be able to recommend a treatment that is helpful for both conditions. Treatment options might include medication or a type of therapy.
Further, its important to have the correct diagnosis because some medications are better for depression, while others are better for anxiety. And there are even some that are good at treating both at once.
Finally, having a diagnosis to describe your personal experience is helpful and empowering. It can help you connect with family, friends, and peer groups that can offer support.
Actions For This Page
- Anxiety and depression in men are common, and effective, evidence-based treatments are available.
- Anxiety and depression are mental health conditions, not weaknesses.
- Taking action may seem difficult but help and support is readily available.
- Its important to seek support for anxiety and depression early the sooner the better.
- With the right treatment, most people recover from anxiety and depression.
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Management Of Anxiety In The Primary Care Setting
Benzodiazepines and buspirone.
The use of the benzodiazepines in the treatment of anxiety disorders has a long history. For many years, diazepam was the most widely prescribed BZD, but alprazolam is currently the most commonly used drug of this class because of its lower incidence of sedation. Alprazolam often significantly reduces panic attacks within a few days at the recommended daily dosage of 1.5 to 10 mg, although dosages as low as 0.25 mg 3 times daily may be effective in some patients. In more chronic forms of anxiety, such as GAD, typical maintenance dosages of alprazolam are generally lower than those used in panic disorder.
Unlike BZDs, buspirone, a member of the azapirone class of nonbenzodiazepine anxiolytics, does not cause sedation or psychomotor and cognitive impairment and, in general, has a more favorable adverse effect profile. Adverse effects of treatment include headache, light-headedness, nausea, and restlessness. Buspirone also has a low abuse potential, so it may be a suitable alternative to BZDs in addictive patients.
At dosages of 20 mg/day, buspirone is effective in GAD but not in panic disorder or OCD, for which it has shown little effect as a sole agent. However, buspirone has a slow onset of action, and it can take 3 to 4 weeks to provide substantial relief of symptoms.
Newer antidepressants for treatment of anxiety.
You Get Exhausted Physically And Mentally
The first blade is the hardships of dealing with depression and anxiety, such as how depression can make you feel so physically and mentally tired and frustrated, but the anxiety will keep you up all night worrying about every little thing and wondering will the depression ever end.
The second blade of the sword is having depression and anxiety as a minority. Being a black woman with mental health issues adds more stress because in the black community, were always being told we need to be strong and never talk about our mental health. I grew up with a what happens in this house stays in this house mentality, as have many other black people with mental health issues. This to me has always been exhausting, because mental health issues in my community have always been so hushed. Jasmin Christal Pierre, 25, creator and CEO ofThe Safe Place in New Orleans
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