Dealing with Depression and Anxiety

Dealing with depression and anxiety can be especially challenging. Although anxiety disorder and depression would seem to be the opposite, sometimes they go together. More than 50% of the people that are diagnosed with depression also have some kind of anxiety disorder.

For a person suffering from depression is very common to feel truly overwhelmed by life and it is here where anxiety arises; we get excessively frightful because we believe we can't handle our problems.

What is an Anxiety Disorder?

Anxiety is a general term. As humans, we are constantly anticipating to what is going to happen. We worry terribly about all the possible things that can go wrong.

We all have suffered from anxiety at one point or another. But that doesn’t mean that we have an anxiety disorder. It is only when the anxiety starts to influence the way we relate to others or the way we go about our daily activities, it can be a sign of an anxiety disorder.

People who are dealing with depression and anxiety tend to have more aggressive symptoms and a higher rate of suicide. Here is a complete list of depression and anxiety symptoms

Types of Anxiety

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD).

Probably the most common type of anxiety is the Generalized Anxiety Disorder. It is characterized by long-lasting anxiety (at least 6 moths) that is not focused on any specific situation. People suffering from this type of anxiety, experience persistent tension and fear for no apparent reason.

• Phobic Disorder

Phobic disorder or phobia is different from the generalized anxiety disorder in the sense that phobias are triggered by specific situations.

If you suffer from any kind of phobia, you experience terror at the sole idea of facing the object of your fear. It can be anything from an animal, to a location, to a particular situation. And sometimes, a phobic person can be more afraid of having a panic reaction, than the situation itself!

Agoraphobia is a common phobia. It has to do with the fear of wide open spaces, big crowds or places where you feel that escape is difficult. Severe agoraphobia will cause people to drastically isolate themselves at home not being able to leave it under any circumstances.

Social Phobia also known as Social Anxiety Disorder is also a very common phobia. It involves an intense fear to social interaction. This fear can be directed to specific situations like public speaking, or to more general social interactions.

• Panic disorder

Panic disorders or panic attacks are brief attacks of intense terror. They are characterized by chest pains and a "racing" heart. Also; confusion, tingling in the hands and fingers, trembling, dizziness, nausea, choking and the feeling that breathing becomes difficult. (You pretty much feel that you are going to die...)

In order to diagnose a patient with panic disorder, the panic attacks have to show chronic consequences. For instance, you live in constant fear of facing future attacks or you observe major changes in your behavior related to the attacks.

Non-Pharmacological Treatments for Anxiety and Depression

Many studies have shown that cognitive therapy (CBT) is a very effective treatment for people dealing with depression and anxiety disorders. Cognitive therapy aims to make you aware of the distortions in your thinking patterns. Once you identify them, you can learn to correct them.

Cognitive therapy is actually related to techniques of mindfulness in which we develop awareness of our thinking. This, I am convinced, is the ONLY way to truly heal our lives. Medications can be useful when used in severe cases but I don’t think they are the only option to treat an anxiety disorder and/or depression.

You may also try natural remedies for anxiety that combined with the mindfulness ideas emphasized in this website will give you good results.

Heal Anxiety and Depression.com is committed to find ways to help people who are dealing with depression and anxiety and want to do it without the use of prescribed medications. Explore the site and its many articles. You will end up feeling empowered to heal your life in a natural and much gentler way.

More Related Articles:

Depression and Anxiety Symptoms
A complete list of the most common symptoms you will experience when you are dealing with depression and anxiety.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Generalized Anxiety Disorder is more common that we can imagine...

Social Anxiety and Depression Here is an interesting article about another common form of anxiety.


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