Difference Between Anxiety And Depression

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Register to read the introduction… Many different factors can contribute to an anxiety disorder. One main theory is major life stressors. Things that are included in major life stressors are grief, financial difficulties, relationship difficulties, or a major trauma. Some examples of major trauma include witnessing a violent crime, major illness, childhood trauma, or abuse, and encountering a major environmental disaster. Anxiety can also be cause by good stressors. Some examples of good stressors include planning a wedding, getting married, having a baby, and starting a new job. Another cause can be a buildup of stressors. Sometimes stress can build up until it has become unbearable. An easy way for stress to build up is from the person ignoring it or putting their needs aside to help other. In situations where a person is always confided in, the stress from others can become unmanageable. That person may even sympathize so much that they experience the stress of the other person’s situation. Similarly, anxiety and depression are thought to be a hereditary predisposition. A hereditary predisposition means that it can be inherited. Even though they share this similarity, anxiety does not have much research to support it, whereas depression does. Mental health experts have found that certain types of depression can run in the family. However, depression can occur in people without family histories of depression too. As with anxiety, no one theory can explain the cause of depression. However, depression is most likely caused by a combination of genetic, biological, environmental, and psychological factors (Cassano, Fava, 2002). Depressive illnesses are disorders of the brain. Longstanding theories about depression suggest that important neurotransmitters, chemicals that brain cells use to communicate, are out of balance in depression (Cassano, Fava, 2002). In addition, trauma, loss of a loved one, a difficult relationship, or any stressful situation may trigger a depressive episode (Cassano, Fava, 2002).The thing to remember about this cause is that the person most likely already had an underlying case of depression and the trauma has just triggered an episode of depression. Other depressive episodes may occur with or without an obvious trigger. Anxiety and depression share many similar symptoms including fatigue, difficulty concentrating, difficulty sleeping, headaches, muscle tension and pain, loss of appetite, loss of libido or sexual desire, loss of interest or pleasure in normal activities, significant weight loss or weight gain, feelings of excessive or inappropriate guilt, drop in self esteem and sense of self confidence, and feelings of unworthiness, guilt, self-blame and self depreciation (Croft, 2010). It is important to tell your doctor all of the symptoms you are experiencing for proper diagnosis and treatment. Although the symptoms are the same, the cause of them may be different. On one hand you have the symptoms of anxiety which include feeling of fear, apprehension and excessive anxiety energy, physical feelings of agitation, muscle tension and symptoms of anxiety, general sense of being tense and rigid, may be a perfectionist and is concerned about the results of activities which can lead to poor performance, and may fear death but not focused on suicide (Croft, 2010). On the other hand, you have the symptoms of depression, which include feeling of emptiness, deep sadness or misery, loss of hope, slowing down of physical movement and lack of physical energy, physical body slumped, loss of interest and ambition, and suicidal thoughts (Croft, 2010). There are many treatment options available for managing anxiety symptoms. Different methods work for different people. It is not uncommon for two people suffering …show more content…
Both anxiety and depression use antidepressants as a form of treatment, although depression also uses other types of medications including Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors and Tricyclics. Depression also uses many different types of Psychotherapy including cognitive-behavioral therapy and interpersonal therapy. Cognitive-behavioral therapy helps people with depression restructure negative thought patterns. Doing so helps people interpret their environment and interactions with others in a positive and realistic way. It may also help you recognize things that may be contributing to the depression and help you change behaviors that may be making the depression worse (Cassano, Fava, 2002). Interpersonal therapy helps people understand and work through troubled relationships that may cause their depression or make it worse (Cassano, Fava, 2002).This type of therapy is especially useful when the root cause of the depression involves another

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