A question about anxiety and depression?

[idawmn]

This is going to sound like a silly question but please bear with me. While I did suffer a major anxiety attack a couple of weeks after surgery and 16 weeks later I'm still suffering from a suffocating feeling 24/7 non stop, I think my bigger issue may be depression.

When I'm able to get some sleep I have dreams of my family being back in my old country 2200 miles away, dreams of being back at my old job before I immigrated here, having thoughts of when my two daughters were little and missing those childhood days, feeling guilty about being 2200 miles away from my family, etc etc. This sounds part like homesickness but also seem to somewhat be living in the past. I do love where I am living, beautiful state and my son who is 23 years old also lives with me.

I do get out and do things. Today I was out getting a tire on the car fixed, taking it through the car wash, going to a store to look around. Yes pretty much boring stuff but other days I get out and do more enjoyable things. Anyhow no matter how I keep busy, I can't shake the suffocation feeling. Well this afternoon I had a little nap. I didn't sleep well during that time but enough to dream about someone I knew from the past and haven't been in contact with them for years. I woke up feeling sad. I was back in my old country last September for 5 weeks.

Do you think this depression might be playing a large part in this anxiety that I gained in January?

[SADnomore]

Hiya ...

Okay, hunni, bear with me too, okay? Lol! I have given your situation some thought, and think I can relate and hope this helps somehow. Well, here on NMP, the "link" for threads related to depression goes: Depression from Anxiety/Panic. Please post any messages here about depression that is directly related to Panic and anxiety. So I guess the premise on the forum is that depression (or at least the kind for which it has a mandate) stems from anxiety, not the other way around.

However, on some threads, I've seen posters talk about the "chicken and the egg" of it all, which comes first? Insofar as getting to the root of my depression, I am willing to unearth any original anxiety that has contributed to my depression today. But I don't feel comfortable speaking about it in that given description, so I haven't initiated a thread there. At first I wasn't sure I "belonged" on the forum because of its emphasis on anxiety and health anxiety. I know I suffer from major depression. I have been unable to find a similar forum for depression. So here I am. Do I get anxious sometimes. You bet. Is it linked to the depression. No doubt about it.

I think the point is that you feel sad, maybe melancholy for your family, and where you lived before. Is it depression stemming from your anxiety, or the other way around? It sounds to me like the treating of the anxiety is what they advocate here, and they may be right. I mean, antidepressants can only do so much, right? And tranquilizers aren't really a solution for overcoming anxiety, however we may wish they were, lol! I applaud your courage at facing whatever needs addressing for your own mental well being.
Marie xx

[swgrl09]

I think anxiety and depression go hand in hand quite often, which could be the case for you. Pay attention to your anxiety and try to notice what it is trying to tell you, alert you to, etc. It might bring some awareness into how they are connected for you.