Occasional anxiety is an expected part of life.
You might feel anxious when faced with a problem at work, before taking a test, or before making an important decision.
But anxiety disorders involve more than temporary worry or fear. For a person with an anxiety disorder, the anxiety does not go away and can get worse over time.
The symptoms can interfere with daily activities such as job performance, school work, and relationships.
Depression (major depressive disorder or clinical depression) is a common but serious mood disorder.
It causes severe symptoms that affect how you feel, think, and handle daily activities, such as sleeping, eating, or working.
To be diagnosed with depression, the symptoms must be present for at least two weeks.
Depression and anxiety are similar in that their main symptoms relate to someone’s mood and feelings, and there can also be physical symptoms.
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.
Depression and anxiety have some distinct features, and some that overlap and it’s actually possible for someone to experience depression and anxiety at the same time.
In fact it’s not just possible; it’s quite common. Around half of people with an anxiety disorder will also have depression and it’s estimated up to 85% of people with depression also experience symptoms of anxiety.
It’s also possible to be diagnosed with one of the conditions, and to have symptoms of the other (but at a level that on their own would not lead to a diagnosis).
Some experts view ‘mixed anxiety and depressive disorder’ as a separate category in itself.
This is where someone may have symptoms of both conditions where neither predominates, at a level not severe enough for a formal diagnosis of either condition.
For more information about anxiety and depression, please check this video:
If you care about depression, please read studies about a major cause of depression in older people, and this depression drug may harm your brain health.
For more information about mental health, please see recent studies about new nasal spray that can treat anxiety disorders, and results showing one dose of this drug may lower anxiety and depression for 5 years.
