relation between anxiety and depression

[vicky23]

It's been occuring to me lately the links and overlaps between these two are very complex.
I didn't think I was depressed just feeling low sometimes because of the anxiety and the limitations it puts on my life. But I went to see a pyschologist and filled in two forms 1 for depression 1 for GAD, I knew I was suffering GAD but she also said my score indicated moderate depression which I was suprised at and now I feel more down because maybe I'm becoming aware of it now rather than denying how I'm feeling.

I suppose I was telling myself I don't have depression just anxiety and a lot of the symptoms are the same for both so I don't have much of an appetite, I feel lethargic, feel like I'm letting people down. In my mind these are all symptoms of anxiety but they're depression symptoms as well hmmm I'm just getting my thoughts around this by writing it down.

Also, when I'm feeling down I get more anxious! Because if I'm feeling anxious but in a fairly positive frame of mind then I have more mental strength to cope with the anxiety symptoms but when I'm down as well I just have thoughts of 'I'm so sick of having to fight these awful feelings'

Anyway thank you for reading my ramblings I'm sure like many of you here it feels good to be able to type your thoughts and know that the people who will read them will understand them and not think you're crazy!
Love to all
Vicky

[Ingenious]

Interesting thread this! For me I have found that my depression/anxiety is linked in the sense that I have anxiety on one side, and depression on the other. I'm either terribly depressed but not anxious, or, under the effects of antidepressants, not depressed but then it seems to swing towards anxiety instead. So my recovery has seen me swing from one to another, but not experience both at the same time. This is the opposite of a lot of people here who get more anxious as they get more depressed. In fact I have often thought, when feeling more anxious on medication, that I would actually prefer to be depressed, but able to get through the day without worrying about basic things.

Luckily over time I have ended up on a medication that works for me and gradually I have ended up in the middle between anxiety and depression and feeling a lot better.

[Gemma T]

I find that when Im depressed my health anx flares up. Its like a terrible coping mechanism I have x x x

[snowgoose]

Hi :)
Untreated unremitting anxiety caused my depression no doubt in my mind .
the anxiety made it impossible to enjoy life .
the terrible twins and are often intertwined I fear.
x

[paulst]

For me its like going in a circle which is difficult to stop. My anxiety causes my depression, which then makes my anxiety worse:sad:

[brambles]

My depression is mainly attributed to what my anxiety has caused.

[evil monkey]

Vicky think ur right, they are two things & related. you can be anxious for a job interview, but not depressed about it. anxiety I've thought is a by-the minute thing. Depression is a more long term thing. Anxiety can cause depression, because if anxiety causes (or prevents) certain events, you get depressed about those events (or lack ov). Might be other things chucked into it, like is it a one off event that made you anxious, or an ongoing thing.

[trish1955]

i rember saying to my doctor once i dont no if i am deppressed because of my anxiety or its my anxiety making me depressed i also once said i dont no if my anxiety is making me feel ill or i am ill and its making me anxiouse
he asumes my anxiety is to blame for it all and thats all he said well want sure if it helped me either when he said it lol

[StressedAndDepressed]

Until recently, I've been anxious only. However, in the last few months I've been switching between one and the other. I've been thinking that my anxiety gets bad, to a certain point, and then switches to depression. The depression does seem to kick in at times when I'm most anxious.

[cityinadream]

Yeah. I get depressed or feel down because my anxiety has prevented me from taking opportunities and doing things I've wanted to do. I felt like I wasn't good enough because my anxiety wouldn't let me do anything.
So yeah, they definitely go hand in hand.

[mabel]

They do go hand in hand! For me anyway! And I find they fight against each other! My anxious side can't sit still for 5 minutes and my depressed side doesn't want to move. A battle! Its hell! So many symptoms to deal with! Its hard when you no you need to do certain things to help your anxiety but your depressed side can't cope with it.

I'm fine most of the time to be honest now, due to CBT and meds but when it hits me its blimin hard work!

[debs71]

This is a very interesting thread.

I had depression first due to a long term health problem. I had to stop work and went into a downward spiral of not getting out of bed, not washing, not eating, etc. This went on for a long period before I started having panic attacks and that is what prompted me to see my GP as they scared me senseless. Since then I have had anxiety mixed with panic and yet my depression has all but gone,bar a few glitches, after I started meds and had counselling.

When I look back though, before I even became depressed I was always an anxious person, worrying about everything. Quite neurotic really. It just didn't have a real impact until the depression started.

Thought provoking stuff.

[Bill]

Just a thought for you about anti-depressants, why I think they help some people with their anxiety and how I think they link with treating our depressed states.

Firstly though, what exactly is anxiety? I think you'll find another word for anxiety is "worry". Worry is caused by self-doubt and lack of confidence which then causes fear. Fear creates worry and therefore we feel anxious. Anyone who is in a constant state of fear will of course feel depressed.

In the old days, when we went to the doctor and said we're feeling anxious and depressed they would probably have prescribed something like diazepam which acted as a sedative and this would then lessen our anxious state so we would feel happier. However, they later discovered that long term use of diazepam is addictive so these days they're often reluctant to prescribe them.

Therefore, their only alternative are the modern ad's which are non-addictive but these don't contain any sedative so instead of acting on reducing the anxious state, I believe these act as the name suggests as "Anti - Depressants" meaning they target depression by lifting the mood of someone in a depressed state. This in turn then means that because the sufferer feels happier, they feel less afraid and in this way they then feel less anxious....or so it appears to me

However, because anxiety is caused by underlying issues which are made worse by excess stress, sometimes I've found these ad's appear to lose their effect when most often it just means our stress levels have increased making us more anxious or that our underlying fear still exist.

Therefore, based on how modern ad's work, what comes to mind is if we find ways to keep our stresses to a minimum and seek things we enjoy even if we do feel anxious about doing them, we end up feeling happier about ourselves and our lives and in that way we can then limit the effects that anxious and depression have over us.

My own feeling is we can either sit and look at a bridge over a canyon worrying about crossing it and feeling depressed whilst taking ad's or we attempt to overcome our fear so we then feel more self-confident and gain more belief in our abilities and in doing so overcome the cycle of anxiety and depression.

The cycle can be broken with knowledge, practise, courage and adopting the techniques that work best for the individual but we have to feel strong enough first and have the willpower.

We never stop being worriers but we can learn how to cope with it and we can certainly overcome our fears because I know people who have. :hugs:

[sazmatazz]

I have never experienced any feelings of depression or been able to understand depression until well into the phase of my life when I was experiencing anxiety.
I started having panic attacks and overwhelming feelings of anxiety about going out, seeing other people etc due to probs with IBS.
After a while I became so ground down and mentally tired from trying to fight the anxiety all the time, it also turned into feeling depressed and not wanting to be here anymore. The anxiety definitely triggered the depression for me - I felt and still often feel like I'm not in control of my own life. The anxiety has worn me down so much that I have no self esteem left and my outlook on life has become very grey.

[musiclover]

The first post on here is exactly what I go through. When I'm anxious alone I am still able to motivate myself and also pick activities which will make me feel happier e.g going out with friends. When I get anxious and depressed the two work against each other, I am unable to make decisions, want to lye in bed all day but then get anxious that my life is passing me by. Both affect my appetite which is the most annoying thing as I love food and also it raises questions when you cant eat as I normally do.