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Depression and anxiety is there a difference?

Depression and anxiety

Depression and anxiety appear to be two different emotional responses that humans are capable of.

We do not usually associate these two disorders with each other. But research has shown that depression and anxiety do, in fact, co-exist, to the detriment of those who suffer from them.

When you imagine someone with depression, you think of all the normal symptoms associated with it:

despair, hopelessness, anger, fatigue, an unwillingness to be a part of society, and a feeling of being overwhelmed by everyday life. A depressed person withdraws into himself and seeks to break all ties with the outside world.

Anxiety attacks, on the other hand, seem to happen for no reason. Feelings of fear and panic occur in situations where most people would be perfectly calm.

These anxiety attacks come on suddenly without warning and for absolutely no reason for them to happen.

After a while, a victim of these attacks begins to live in fear of the attacks themselves, wondering when the next one will occur.

In a short time, and without treatment, both anxiety attacks and depression can begin to affect the lives of those who suffer from them in a negative way by not allowing them to keep a job, have a relationship or even go out into society.

What many people with these two diseases don't realize is that either one can lead to the other.

Being depressed can weigh heavily on the mind leading the depressed person through a maze of different emotions.

This in itself can lead to anxiety and eventually panic attacks.

Panic attacks signify a loss of control and as this happens more and more frequently, the sufferer can become depressed with their situation of not knowing if and when the next attack will occur.

Why these two disorders seem to occur at the same time is still largely unknown. But many studies show that major depression is often accompanied by an anxiety disorder.

Both are likely caused by an imbalance in brain chemistry, but why the two seemingly opposite disorders can co-exist in the same person is not fully understood.

What is understood about anxiety disorder is that the fight or flight reaction in the brain does not work the way it is supposed to.

It can ring at any time, even in seemingly peaceful situations. Those who have anxiety disorder always feel that they are in danger.

One thing psychologists agree on is that having a combination of depression and anxiety is much more debilitating than having just one or the other.

Patients with both disorders can take much longer to resolve their depression, making treating them much more difficult.

People who suffer from anxiety and depression have also been shown to have a much higher rate of suicide.

While this sounds bad, there are options to treat both conditions. Antidepressant medications can be used to treat both depression and anxiety.

When these medications are used in conjunction with behavioral therapy, there is a high rate of success in treating depression accompanied by anxiety.