Similarities Between Depression And Anxiety

A vast majority of people struggle with Depression, Anxiety, or in some cases both. What many do not recognize is how much those monsters impact one’s life.
When dealing with Anxiety, many believe that is just a panic attack or “butterflies” that make you nervous. They do not comprehend that it is an abundant more than that. Amanda Seyfried once stated about her anxiety, “It's sad, actually, because my anxiety keeps me from enjoying things as much as I should at this age” (Seyfried 1). Her anxiety held her back from doing the things that she enjoyed. Her anxiety caused her sadness. Her anxiety caused her to separate her from others her age. Anxiety can cause an individual to attract Depression as well.
Depression and Anxiety commonly go hand in hand because of the simple fact that Anxiety causes you to stop doing the things you enjoy or to separate yourself from others; thus causing Depression to take interest in the individual.

When dealing with Depression, many believe that it is just a case of the blues.

They believe that it is just that you feel sad. They do not understand that it goes further than that. Joyce Meyer once said, “Depression begins with disappointment. When disappointment festers in our soul, it leads to discouragement” (Meyer 1). Joyce describes Depression to disappointment and discouragement. Although she is correct, there is still more to Depression than what she can even comprehend.
Although there are an abundant of characteristics that Depression and Anxiety have are extremely similar, they vary more than what the majority realize.
Before one is even able to begin understanding The Monsters’ similarities and differences, they must first know the correct definition of them. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines Anxiety in two different ways;
• fear or nervousness about what might happen,

or
• a feeling of wanting to do something very much.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary also defines Depression in two different ways;
• a state of feeling sad, or
• a serious medical condition in which a person feels very sad, hopeless, and unimportant and often is unable to live in a normal way.
Both of their definitions almost seem to soften the severity of these conditions. They do not show the full effect that The Monsters have. They do not capture the true horror that comes with them. Even though Depression’s definition says that it’s a serious medical condition, it does not explain how this monster will follow you everywhere you go. It does not describe the feeling of lonesomeness that one may experience. It does not define how much this monster will change your life. It does not express the terror that one will experience when trying to fight off the monster we know as Depression.
Before an individual can understand The Monsters’ similarities and differences, they must first comprehend that each monster conveys itself in many different forms.
Anxiety takes the many shapes, but the most common are panic disorders, social anxiety disorders, specific phobias, and generalized anxiety disorders. A panic disorder is when sudden terror attacks the victim randomly and repetitively. They cause the victim to experience chest pains, colds sweats, and occasionally it can cause them to have shortness in breath. Anxiety seems to be strangling the victim, causing them to choke. A social anxiety disorder is when everyday situations cause one to have an overwhelming feeling to be self-conscious or extremely nervous. The victim fears being embarrassed. Anxiety is taking their stomach and twisting it, causing them to have a gut-wrenching feeling. A specific phobia is extremely common. The victim usually fears a certain object or action. Anxiety is actually showing itself to the victim, the victim can physically see the monster in this form. A generalized anxiety disorder is the simplest of forms for this monster. The victim becomes excessively worried and filled with tension when faced with the simplest of events. Anxiety seems to be pushing their heart to beat faster and squeezing their lungs. When someone suffers from Anxiety, they may only experience one of the forms, but others can experience each and every single one of the forms.
Depression has many different profiles, but the most common are seasonal affective disorder (SAD), premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), and 'situational' depression. SAD is when a certain time of the year causes one to be upset and to separate themselves from the things they used to love to do. SAD causes the victim to experience fatigue, weight gain, and mood swings. Depression seems to be sitting on the victim’s shoulders, weighing them down and causing them to develop this mood disorder. PMDD is only found in women. The victim may experience fatigue, change in appetite, mood swings, and weight loss or gain. Depression seems to be punching them in the stomach and pushing them down constantly. Situational depression is only seen when something tragic is happening one’s life. A victim may encounter this form of Depression if they are dealing with a divorce, loss of a loved one, loss of job, or if they are facing a stressful situation. Depression seems to be a dark cloud hanging over them until the time of morning or stress has passed. When someone suffers from Depression, they can face many of the different silhouettes. Some may fight Depression for a short amount of time, and for others Depression will follow them for an immense amount of time.
Both Monsters have multiple faces or profiles that they may hide behind. They also both vary in how much time they will take interest in an individual. Overall, they both change someone’s life causing them to possibly change completely.
What causes people to attract or develop The Monsters? Why do The Monsters follow people? Why do The Monsters take interest? These are all questions that some may ask. The victims of The Monsters, they themselves may not understand or be able to answer these questions. Some of the biggest differences and similarities of The Monsters are found in their causes.
Anxiety can be caused by many things. Five of the biggest ones are stress caused by work, school, personal relationships, finances, or emotional trauma. It seems to be extremely clear that Anxiety is attracted to stress. Anxiety follows me because of the stress I carry every day. It is the stress of school, my job, my home life, and occasionally my own relationship. Being stressed is extremely normal, but excessively stressing is what causes Anxiety to become your shadow, lurking in the dark and following you everywhere.
Depression has many more than just one single cause. The biggest and most common are abuse, medications, conflicts, death or loss, or genetics. Personally, I believe that my depression is caused by mostly my genetics, but some could be the emotional abuse that I have faced in my past. Depression is found on both sides of my family. Depression like Anxiety can be caused by death or loss, but individuals must understand that just because you suffer a loss does not mean that you are automatically going to be followed by The Monsters.
What if your situation does cause The Monsters to start following you? How are you supposed to know that they are? How do you know when to seek help? These are all important questions. There are symptoms, or should I say warnings, that come with The Monsters.
Anxiety is hard to figure out sometimes because its warnings are harder to comprehend. The warnings could be sudden fear, shivers, sweating, trembling, or shortness of breath. These warnings can be recognized no matter how long Anxiety decides to stalk you.
Depression on the other hand is slightly easier to distinguish. The warnings signs may include fatigue, feelings of worthlessness, guilt, or helplessness, changes in sleeping pattern, loss of interest in anything, or changes in appetite. Depression’s warnings are extremely noticeable for family members or even close friends. Anxiety on the contrary, only you may be able to recognize the forewarnings.
There are ways to subdue and even possibly get rid of The Monsters, but they may not always work. The treatments are the same for both Anxiety and Depression. There are three main types of treatments; medication, therapy, or the at home treatment. Medication is common for subduing both of The Monsters. Cymbalta, Lexapro, Effexor XR, Xanax, Zoloft, Celexa, and Prozac are only some of suppositories that can be used to fend off The Monsters. It can be very common for there to occasional side effects that come with each prescription. Therapy is also one of the most common treatments for both of The Monsters. Physical and Mental therapy are useful in treating a victim who deals with The Monsters. The at home treatment is one that extremely uncommon. Most cannot fight off The Monsters on their own, for those who can, they may choose this method. This method involves people changing their lives to stop Anxiety and Depression from following them. They might become more organized to try and eliminate some stress. They might try to make new friends to bring a new form of light into the darkness of Depression. They might try to find new coping mechanisms. Although some find the at home treatment to be helpful, it is not one that I personally would recommend.
I walk into the doctor’s office and go straight to registration. After letting everyone in the building know I am there, I go to my doctor’s personal receptionist. I am here just to get my physical, but the receptionist hands me a questionnaire survey. It has questions with the answers never, every once in a while, and always. I fill in the bubble to each question and bring it back up to the receptionist. A little while later, my name is called and I am brought back to a small examination room. The nurse takes my vitals and then leaves the room. I begin to wait patiently for the doctor. Finally, there is a knock on the door. The door slowly opens and my doctor comes in. She pulls out the questionnaire I filled out and asks my brother to leave the room. The first thing she says is that she wants me to be put on anti-depressants because of my survey results.
This doctor’s appointment is one that will change my life forever. I have always known that I struggled with The Monsters following me around , but I had never had a doctor say it to me. I had filled out thousands of those surveys for hundreds of doctors , but I have never actually been diagnosed. Some may not understand why it shocked me so much to be diagnosed if I already had the idea that The Monsters were attached to me, but I want to justify that it is different to actually have someone say it to you other than yourself.
There are many kids my age that struggle with the same things that I do, but I will never forget how my friend Cassidy described living with Anxiety and Depression, “Depression causes you to not care at all, but Anxiety causes you to care too much. The combination of these two can be considered deadly” (Turkle 1). After hearing this, I think I finally realized how The Monsters can completely change your life and affect your emotions. Before I or anyone else tries live life with The Monsters, they must first realize that there are characteristics of The Monsters that are tremendously similar, but they also vary immensely.