Anxiety and Depression: How are they related?

Anxiety and depression are two of the most common mental health disorders. They are also the two most referenced and talked about mental health issues. While there is overlap between the symptoms and treatment of anxiety and depression, they have key differences as well. First, let’s define anxiety and depression.

What is anxiety?

 Anxiety is defined as a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome. Feeling anxious is often healthy. It becomes unhealthy when it lasts for extended periods of time and interferes with your everyday functioning. Some symptoms of anxiety are racing thoughts, poor sleep, trouble concentrating, being easily fatigued, feeling restless, and muscle tension. These symptoms will vary depending on the type of anxiety. For example, people with social anxiety will be most anxious in social situations and people with general anxiety disorder will feel anxious in a variety of situations. For more information about anxiety, please check out our page on anxiety treatment.

What is depression?

 Depression is a mood disorder which is characterized by frequent and constant sadness and loss of interest or pleasure. Additional symptoms of depression are changes in weight, changes in sleep, angry outbursts, fatigue, lack of energy, feelings of worthlessness, feelings of guilt, trouble concentrating, and thoughts of death or suicide. For someone to meet criteria for a diagnosis of depression, these symptoms have to last for at least two weeks. It is important to differentiate between clinical depression and normal feelings of sadness. Normal feelings of sadness are temporary and are typically related to a life stressor. Additionally, normal feelings of sadness are not accompanied with other symptoms of depression such as feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. For more information about depression, please check out our page on depression treatment.

How are they similar?

 As you can see from the lists of symptoms, there is some overlap between anxiety and depression. Some of the similar symptoms are irritability, poor concentration, poor sleep, and being easily fatigued. Both of these issues can have significant impact on a person’s functioning and can impact their daily life.

Anxiety and depression can occur at the same time. Additionally, anxiety and depression can occur as a reaction to each other, where depression can trigger some anxiety and vice versa.

How are they different? 

Anxiety and depression differ significantly in their presentation. Anxiety is mostly excessive worrying with racing thoughts. Depression, on the other hand, is excessively sad mood with a lack of pleasure in previously pleasurable activities. Feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness are also good indicators of depression.

Another key difference is in arousal. People with anxiety tend to be hyper, jittery, or wired and people with depression tend to be low energy and slowed down.  

What can you do about it?

 Psychotherapy treatment for both anxiety and depression are very similar. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) focuses on challenging irrational thoughts and focusing on being more realistic. These techniques can be helpful for both anxiety and depression. Psychodynamic talk therapy will focus on the past and how your unconscious thoughts affect your present. Mindfulness can also be effective in managing your symptoms as you work on being more present in the moment and less focused on your thoughts and feelings.

The medications used to treat both anxiety and depression are very similar. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have been shown to be helpful for both anxiety and depression. Depending on your symptoms and your body’s responses to these medications, other types of medications can be used.

Here at La Cañada Psychology, we use an integrative approach to treating both anxiety and depression. We utilize techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy, psychodynamic therapy, and mindfulness to create an individualized treatment plan to help find the tools that works best for you. Everyone is different and responds to the treatment models differently. Therefore, it is important to work with someone who is trained in a number of treatment methods and who will be flexible to help make a unique plan that best fits you and your needs. This will greatly improve the effectiveness of the treatment.

Click on the links for more information on anxiety treatment and depression treatment. If you would like to speak with a psychologist about your anxiety or depression, please click on the link to contact us.