Has Depression Got You Feeling Anxious?
It may sound like on odd question "Has depression got you feeling anxious" because depression and anxiety are two separate things in many people's minds.
But the fact is they are intrinsically linked.
One might just as easily ask you "are you anxious because you are depressed?".
When I was hit with a double dose of both, I went to see a shrink.
He explained to me that I was simply depressed, and anxiety is brought on by depression.
Why? Because when you are depressed, your brain literally thinks differently than when your neurotransmitters are balanced and you think normally.
A person feeling normal might wake up in the morning and run through the things he or she has to do that day.
While some of the tasks or chores might not be exciting, and even could be tedious, the person thinks of when they are going to do this or that and perhaps maps out the day based on what has to be done and figures out how to handle things.
When that very same person is depressed -- even though it is the same person with the same brain -- they are going to wake up and immediately feel a huge burden about the things that have to be done.
A minor chore in the day such as picking up a pie at your athletic club can become an overwhelming task.
Who are you going to run into in the club? Are you going to have to stop and chat with anybody? Because that is the last thing you want to do, and all those thoughts bring on anxiety.
The anxiety builds about the task and perhaps you think about it for too long and now it's time to go to work and you have not even begun to think about all the other things you must do.
They grow into a mountainous thought that becomes a barrier to your day and you would now do anything to lie in bed and avoid it all.
I know -- I have been there.
Thinking about going to the office and having the phone ring -- just where it is supposed to ring -- that thought alone may bring great anxiety amidst a depression.
Who must be calling me? Why would they call? What could the problem be? Instead of seeing those phone calls as opportunities where somebody may be calling to offer you a great deal you are overwhelmed with negative thoughts.
Isn't that crazy? This could be the same person who normally IS positive, but the depression has created an imbalance that can make a simple day full of horrible anxiety.
That was how I felt things were working against me in my brain, and it is how I thought my anxiety and depression were linked.
But when my shrink left town I had to see his associate, and do you know what he told me.
"NO" he exclaimed.
"I think Dr xyz has it all wrong.
You are so anxious about everything that it is making you depressed!" Oh what a sigh of relief I had momentarily.
This must be the problem and it's why I'm not feeling better! So he adjusted one medication down and added more to another one.
Well I felt like we had accomplished something until I thought of my other doctor coming back and how on earth was I going to tell him that I think he misdiagnosed me.
And then that brought on another huge round of anxiety attacks.
I don't care what they say..
if you are depressed you are anxious, and if you are anxious you are depressed.
What the heck? JUST HELP ME FEEL BETTER, PLEASE!
But the fact is they are intrinsically linked.
One might just as easily ask you "are you anxious because you are depressed?".
When I was hit with a double dose of both, I went to see a shrink.
He explained to me that I was simply depressed, and anxiety is brought on by depression.
Why? Because when you are depressed, your brain literally thinks differently than when your neurotransmitters are balanced and you think normally.
A person feeling normal might wake up in the morning and run through the things he or she has to do that day.
While some of the tasks or chores might not be exciting, and even could be tedious, the person thinks of when they are going to do this or that and perhaps maps out the day based on what has to be done and figures out how to handle things.
When that very same person is depressed -- even though it is the same person with the same brain -- they are going to wake up and immediately feel a huge burden about the things that have to be done.
A minor chore in the day such as picking up a pie at your athletic club can become an overwhelming task.
Who are you going to run into in the club? Are you going to have to stop and chat with anybody? Because that is the last thing you want to do, and all those thoughts bring on anxiety.
The anxiety builds about the task and perhaps you think about it for too long and now it's time to go to work and you have not even begun to think about all the other things you must do.
They grow into a mountainous thought that becomes a barrier to your day and you would now do anything to lie in bed and avoid it all.
I know -- I have been there.
Thinking about going to the office and having the phone ring -- just where it is supposed to ring -- that thought alone may bring great anxiety amidst a depression.
Who must be calling me? Why would they call? What could the problem be? Instead of seeing those phone calls as opportunities where somebody may be calling to offer you a great deal you are overwhelmed with negative thoughts.
Isn't that crazy? This could be the same person who normally IS positive, but the depression has created an imbalance that can make a simple day full of horrible anxiety.
That was how I felt things were working against me in my brain, and it is how I thought my anxiety and depression were linked.
But when my shrink left town I had to see his associate, and do you know what he told me.
"NO" he exclaimed.
"I think Dr xyz has it all wrong.
You are so anxious about everything that it is making you depressed!" Oh what a sigh of relief I had momentarily.
This must be the problem and it's why I'm not feeling better! So he adjusted one medication down and added more to another one.
Well I felt like we had accomplished something until I thought of my other doctor coming back and how on earth was I going to tell him that I think he misdiagnosed me.
And then that brought on another huge round of anxiety attacks.
I don't care what they say..
if you are depressed you are anxious, and if you are anxious you are depressed.
What the heck? JUST HELP ME FEEL BETTER, PLEASE!
