Is This Depression Or Anxiety

It’s Easy To Overlook The Clues That You May Need Help For One Of These Common Conditions

The signs of mental illness aren’t always obvious. Subtle changes in mood or behavior are often attributed to aging, just like weaker muscles and fuzzy thinking. “There’s a tendency to dismiss it as, ‘Well, of course I’m worried, I have heart disease,’ or, ‘Of course I’m sad, I’m not as relevant as I once was,'” says Dr. Michael Craig Miller, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

But depression and anxiety do not need to be routine parts of aging. Getting help for these feelings can help you maintain your health and enjoy life to the fullest.

Reclaim Your Life From Anxiety And/or Depression

We selected these anxiety and depression quotes to help you in the daily struggle with these mental illnesses, but you or your loved one should get treatment for it as soon as possible. We Level Up California rehab institute can provide to you, or someone you love, treatment for anxiety and depression with professional and safe care. Feel free to call us to speak with one of our counselors. We can inform you about this condition by giving you relevant information. Our specialists know what you are going through. Please know that each call is private and confidential.

Physical Signs Of Anxiety

The physical state of anxiety can be conceptualized overall as that of heightened arousal. Specific characteristics include:

• Difficulty concentrating due to state of agitation or racing thoughts
• Difficulty falling or staying asleep due to racing thoughts or other physical symptoms

Depression is primarily characterized by changes in usual physical processes from baseline, such as:

• Difficulty with concentration, focus, and memory due to ruminative thought processes or other physical symptoms
• Loss of appetite or a significant increase in appetite
• Moving or talking more slowly than usual
• Physical achiness without cause
• Sleeping much more or much less than is typical due to ruminative thought processes or low energy

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How Are They Different

The main difference between depression and anxiety is the symptoms. Depression is a persistent feeling of sadness. You also have no energy and you lose interest in activities you once loved. Some people with depression think about hurting themselves.

Anxiety involves fear or worry that you can’t control. Depending on the type of anxiety you have, the worry can surface during everyday activities like meeting new people.

What Is Samhsa’s National Helpline

SAMHSAs National Helpline, , or TTY: is a confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information service, in English and Spanish, for individuals and family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders. This service provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups, and community-based organizations.

Also visit the online treatment locator, or send your zip code via text message: 435748 to find help near you. Read more about the HELP4U text messaging service.

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Reach Out To Loved Ones

Strong relationships can go a long way toward improving your outlook and emotional well-being when you live with mental health conditions.

Friends and family can:

• provide encouragement and emotional support
• join you in hobbies or activities that offer a positive distraction
• offer rides, grocery runs, and other more tangible forms of support when you have trouble getting things done

Simply knowing you have someone you trust in your life can often help you feel less alone, whether you actually want to talk about your symptoms or not.

Treating co-occurring depression and anxiety can sometimes be more complicated than treating one condition alone. Even when you get treatment for one condition, some symptoms might persist or seem to play off the others.

For example:

• You cant stop worrying about all the things going wrong in your life, or thinking about the ways things could get worse. These fears eventually drain your energy and motivation to keep trying, leaving you feeling low and hopeless.
• Social anxiety keeps you from connecting with people in the ways youd like. You want to make new friends but generally end up avoiding interactions instead. This leaves you feeling lonely, sad, and guilty, especially when thinking of those missed opportunities, but helpless to do anything differently.

A mental health care professional may recommend combining treatment approaches, since what helps ease depression symptoms may not always relieve anxiety symptoms, and vice versa.

Can Depression Be Prevented

Many people wonder if depression can be prevented and how they may be able to lower their risk of depression. Although most cases of depression cannot be prevented, healthy lifestyle changes can have long-term benefits to your mental health.

Here are a few steps you can take:

• Be physically active and eat a healthy, balanced diet. This may help avoid illnesses that can bring on disability or depression. Some diets including the low-sodium DASH diet have been shown to reduce risk of depression.

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They Also Share The Ability To Recover

The good news is that both are generally treatable. There are several ways to ensure that you’re able to control and even cure both anxiety and depression, provided you make the commitment to improving your mental health in the long term. No matter how hopeless it may feel, there are actual, effective ways to improve your mental health in the long term, provided you’re prepared for a few bumps that may occur along the way.

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How Common Are Anxiety And Depression

Anxiety disorders affect nearly 20 percent of American adults. That means millions are beset by an overabundance of the fight-or-flight response that primes the body for action. When youre stressed, the brain responds by prompting the release of cortisol, natures built-in alarm system. It evolved to help animals facing physical threats by increasing respiration, raising the heart rate and redirecting blood flow from abdominal organs to muscles that assist in confronting or escaping danger.

These protective actions stem from the neurotransmitters epinephrine and norepinephrine, which stimulate the sympathetic nervous system and put the body on high alert. But when they are invoked too often and indiscriminately, the chronic overstimulation can result in all manner of physical ills, including digestive symptoms like indigestion, cramps, diarrhea or constipation, and an increased risk of heart attack or stroke.

Depression, while less common than chronic anxiety, can have even more devastating effects on physical health. While its normal to feel depressed from time to time, more than 6 percent of adults have such persistent feelings of depression that it disrupts personal relationships, interferes with work and play, and impairs their ability to cope with the challenges of daily life. Persistent depression can also exacerbate a persons perception of pain and increase their chances of developing chronic pain.

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Can You Have Anxiety And Depression At The Same Time

Its a complex picture. Depression and generalised anxiety disorder have some distinct features, and some that overlap. To complicate things further, its actually possible for someone to experience depression and anxiety at the same time.

In fact its not just possible its quite common. Around half of people with generalised anxiety disorder will also have depression. When the conditions coexist like this, they can be more severe and long-lasting than usual.

Its also possible to be diagnosed with one of the conditions, and to have symptoms of the other . The way symptoms overlap make it hard to be precise with numbers. But estimates of the number of people with depression who also experience symptoms of anxiety range as high as 85 per cent.

Many experts actually view mixed anxiety and depressive disorder as a separate category in itself. This is where someone may have symptoms of both conditions, but not severe enough to have a formal diagnosis of either condition. But this combination can still cause considerable distress and affect someones daily life.

The Relationship Between Depression And Anxiety Is Complicated

While it would be great if there were a fool-proof way of telling you whether you have anxiety or depression, it’s not quite that simple. One person can easily have both anxiety and depression, and some people may have developed depression symptoms as a result of their anxiety disorder.

It’s a bit more difficult than saying “you have anxiety” or “you have depression” because it’s possible to have combinations of both. This may be called a “comorbid” condition when you suffer from both conditions simultaneously. Symptoms of one or the other may bleed into whichever disorder you have, because both share similar causes, issues, etc.

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The Critical Relationship Between Anxiety And Depression

Anxiety and depressive disorders are among the most common psychiatric illnesses they are highly comorbid with each other, and together they are considered to belong to the broader category of internalizing disorders. Based on statistics from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the 12-month prevalence of major depressive disorder in 2017 was estimated to be 7.1% for adults and 13.3% for adolescents . Data for anxiety disorders are less current, but in 20012003, their 12-month prevalence was estimated to be 19.1% in adults, and 20012004 data estimated that the lifetime prevalence in adolescents was 31.9% . Both anxiety and depressive disorders are more prevalent in women, with an approximate 2:1 ratio in women compared with men during womens reproductive years .

Another article, from Gray and colleagues , addresses whether there is a convergence of findings, specifically in major depression, when examining data from different structural and functional neuroimaging modalities. The authors report that, consistent with what we know about regions involved in emotion processing, the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala were among the regions that showed convergence across multimodal imaging modalities.

Disclosures of Editors financial relationships appear in the April 2020 issue of the Journal.

6 Dunner DL: Management of anxiety disorders: the added challenge of comorbidity. Depress Anxiety2001 13:5771, ,

Can Anxiety And Depression Be Treated Together

Yes. No one has to suffer from anxiety disorder or depression, and certainly not both. People with anxiety disorder should speak with a psychiatrist, therapist, or other healthcare professional about their symptoms and start treatment as soon as possible. If you suspect you have both anxiety and depression, Connolly recommends getting a thorough evaluation from a psychiatrist as a first step. “It’s really crucial for people with both to have a good assessment to rule out bipolar disorder,” she says.

Important: If you or someone you know needs help coping with anxiety or depression, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK . The Crisis Text Line also provides free, 24/7, confidential support via text message to people in crisis when they text to 741741.

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Different Types Of Depression

There are different types of depression, and there are some conditions where depression is a symptom. These conditions include:

• Bipolar disorder people with bipolar disorder, which is also known as “manic depression”, experience times of depression, where the symptoms are similar to clinical depression. They also go through phases when they have excessively high moods . Bouts of mania can include harmful behaviour like unsafe sex, spending sprees and gambling.
• Seasonal affective disorder is also called “winter depression”. It’s depression that is related to weather, usually winter, so it happens seasonally.
• Postnatal depression happens to some women after they’ve had a baby. It’s treated similarly to other types of depression, with antidepressant medication and talking therapy.

Learn more about how depression is diagnosed here.

Why Might It Ease Symptoms Of Depression

We all know how good a nice, long hug can feel and theres science to back that feeling up. Depression symptoms like pervasive sadness, low energy, and lack of motivation are associated with lower serotonin levels, Markov explains. Research shows that the feeling of being held and supported can increase serotonin levels and activate the production of oxytocin, endorphins, and dopamine known as the love and pleasure neurotransmitters, which results in improved mood and a greater sense of happiness.

In session, clients will report a sense of being hugged by the blanket which also contributes to a feeling of safety and security, thereby lowering distress signals triggered by depression, Pistilli confirms.

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Allow Yourself To Feel What Youre Feeling

Depression and anxiety are medical conditions, not the result of failure or weakness, and theyre absolutely not your fault.

Without a doubt, the unwanted emotions they cause can lead to plenty of distress. But knowing depression and anxiety result from underlying causes and triggers, not anything you did or didnt do, can promote self-compassion instead of criticism or self-punishment.

Medication And Older Adults

As you get older, body changes can affect the way medicines are absorbed and used. Because of these changes, there can be a larger risk of drug interactions among older adults. Share information about all medications and supplements youre taking with your doctor or pharmacist.

Use this worksheet to help track your medications.

Treatment, particularly a combination of psychotherapy and medications, has been shown to be effective for older adults. However, not all medications or therapies will be right for everyone. Treatment choices differ for each person, and sometimes multiple treatments must be tried in order to find one that works. It is important to tell your doctor if your current treatment plan isnt working and to keep trying to find something that does.

Some people may try complementary health approaches, like yoga, to improve well-being and cope with stress. However, there is little evidence to suggest that these approaches, on their own, can successfully treat depression. While they can be used in combination with other treatments prescribed by a persons doctor, they should not replace medical treatment. Talk with your doctor about what treatment might be good to try.

Dont avoid getting help because you dont know how much treatment will cost. Treatment for depression is usually covered by private insurance and Medicare. Also, some community mental health centers may offer treatment based on a persons ability to pay.

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Whats The Difference Between Depression And Anxiety

Anxiety and depression are distinct mental health disorders. Each has its own set of symptoms.

For example, someone with anxiety may experience excessive fear or worry, while someone with depression may experience persistent feelings of hopelessness.

However, they are often interconnected. Someone with depression can experience anxiety symptoms as part of their mood disorder, and someone with a persistent anxiety disorder can develop depression over time.

Helping A Suicidal Friend Or Relative

If you see any of the above warning signs:

• get professional help for the person
• let them know they’re not alone and that you care about them
• offer your support in finding other solutions to their problems

If you feel there is an immediate danger, stay with the person or have someone else stay with them, and remove all available means of committing suicide, such as medication.

Over-the-counter drugs such as painkillers can be just as dangerous as prescription medication.

Also, remove sharp objects and poisonous household chemicals such as bleach.

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Do I Need Health Insurance To Receive This Service

The referral service is free of charge. If you have no insurance or are underinsured, we will refer you to your state office, which is responsible for state-funded treatment programs. In addition, we can often refer you to facilities that charge on a sliding fee scale or accept Medicare or Medicaid. If you have health insurance, you are encouraged to contact your insurer for a list of participating health care providers and facilities.

Diagnosing And Treating Depression

There’s no physical test for depression.

If you experience depression symptoms most of the day, every day, for more than two weeks, you should visit your GP. This is especially important if:

• you have symptoms of depression that aren’t getting any better
• you have thoughts of self-harm or suicide
• your work, relationships with friends and family, or interests are affected by your mood

It can be hard for people with depression to imagine that anything can help them but the sooner you seek help, the sooner the symptoms start to get better.

Your GP may examine you and perform blood or urine tests to make sure there isn’t another condition causing your depression symptoms, like an underactive thyroid.

When you see your GP, they’ll try to find out if you have depression by asking you questions. These are likely to be about your health, how you’re feeling, and how that is affecting you mentally and physically.

Telling your doctor your symptoms and the affect they are having on you will help your GP to tell if you have depression, and how severe the condition is. It’s important to be as open as possible.

Your conversation with your GP will be confidential. This rule can only be broken if your GP thinks there is a significant risk of harm to you or others, and that telling a family member or carer would make that risk lower.

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These Depression And Anxiety Quotes Can Help In Your Daily Struggle

On darker days, its important to have mantras that can bring you up from a spell of anxiety or depression, and these depression and anxiety quotes can do just that. Learning how to deal with anxiety or manage the signs of depression takes daily effort, particularly if outside factors are exacerbating your anxiety or depression . If you require a mantra or saying to help manage your mood, try one of these quick, memorable options.

If your anxiety or depression feels unmanageable, its important to first turn to family, friends, or professionals for help. If youre already using apps for anxiety or working with a therapist or other professional to help manage your anxiety and/or depression but need a bit of a boost, though, these inspirational quotes for depression and anxiety can helpor just remind you that what youre feeling is normal and not permanent.

Like love quotes or good morning quotes, these positive depression and anxiety quotes can be used for yourself, shared on social media, sent to a friend, or used on a letterboard as a more permanent reminder that managing your thoughts can help manage your mood. Pick your favorite inspirational depression and anxiety quotes and keep them handy the next time you need a little mental boost: With some persistence, youll find that you can take steps to better manage your mental health.

1. I found that with depression, one of the most important things you could realize is that youre not alone. Dwayne Johnson