Anxiety And Depression Go Together

Anxiety And Depression Go Together

For hundreds of years, doctors have considered anxiety and depression to be separate illnesses, which often overlapped.  However, recent research is coming to the conclusion that anxiety and depression are really different aspects of the same chemical disturbance.

People who are continuously nervous, anxious or worried and uptight, are much more at risk of getting depression than the rest of the population.  Learning ways to relax and learning ways to stay calm under pressure, are very useful in reducing the risk of getting depressed.

When depression has occurred, it is almost inevitable that people will get anxious also.  This may manifest itself in them being very worried and nervous or it may show itself by them being very irritable and easy to get upset or get angry.

Anxiety produces lots of physical symptoms, such as headaches, pains in the face and jaws, chest pains, stomach pains and indigestion and bowel pains.  Some people with anxiety find they clench their jaws during the day or grind their teeth at night.

Treatment

The treatments which control depression, especially the modern antidepressants, tend also to be very effective in treating anxiety.  Indeed, many people who have been anxious all their lives cannot believe how it is possible to be calm and relaxed, without being drowsy or muddled, after they have taken modern antidepressant medications.

One of the treatments I find very useful in treating severe depression is to wipe out my patients’ anxiety symptoms by using anti-anxiety drugs.  While the older Benzodiazepines are pretty good, the modern antipsychotic drugs in low dose are often dramatically effective in stopping anxiety, especially when used with antidepressants.  In many cases, patients of mine who have been getting very sick very quickly, have had their deterioration stopped almost overnight by the use of drugs which controlled their anxiety, while we waited for the antidepressants to take effect, normally a much slower process.

Important Disclaimer:  This site is medical information only and is not to be taken as diagnosis, advice or treatment, which can only be decided by your own doctor.