Depression and Anxiety Disorders:
Disorders of Depression and Anxiety Can Be Treated

Both depressed people, and those who have an anxiety disorder, have at least one thing in common. They can be so affected by their condition that they have to struggle to leave their own homes.

But their reasons for being unable to do so are different. While depression and anxiety disorders may result in similar behaviors, they cause very different feelings in the people they afflict.

Depression will leave people physically exhausted, angry, hopeless, and feeling as if even the simple tasks of getting out of bed, dressing, and feeding themselves are beyond them. They will often not have the energy to maintain their relationships.

Depression and anxiety disorders differ in that anxiety disorders cause their victims, during an attack, to operate at their physical peak, with racing heartbeat, soaring blood pressure, heightened sensory reactions, and glucose-flooded muscles.

These attacks occur without warning, so anxiety sufferers live in a constant state of dread waiting for the next ones. Unless they seek treatment, they too will end up largely housebound because of their fear of having a public attack.

But one puzzling fact about depression and anxiety disorders is that many people experience them simultaneously. Research has shown that up to 85% those diagnosed with clinical depression also have some form of anxiety disorder.

Suffering from combined depression and anxiety disorders would be like stuck being in a nightmare where you see the locomotive bearing down on you, but your foot is caught under the railroad ties and you can't move.

Your anxiety keeps you terrified, and even when you do get up the courage to think about getting help, your depression makes you incapable of acting. Some research has indicated that victims of combined depression and anxiety disorders are far more likely to attempt suicide than those who have only one of them.

The good news, if there be any, is that whatever the link between depression and anxiety disorders is, it causes them to respond to the same therapies, so that they can be treated together. Anxiety disorder symptoms will be relieved with antidepressant drug medications; cognitive and behavioral therapies are effective in helping people recover from both depression and anxiety disorders.

Antidepressants drugs used to treat depression and anxiety disorders will take longer to alleviate the anxiety symptoms that medications designed specifically for anxiety disorders. Antidepressant SSRIs--selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors--may cause increased nervousness, so might not be a good choice for those suffering from depression and anxiety disorders.

Related Articles:

• Tips For Panic Attacks

• Anxiety Attack Symptoms

• Social Anxiety Disorder Symptoms

• Anxiety Cure: Is There Really a Cure For Anxiety?

• Anxiety and Wellbutrin: Does Wellbutrin Cause Anxiety on Steroids?

• Anti-Anxiety Medication: Is Anti-Anxiety Medication the Answer for You?

• Anxiety Panic Disorder: Why You Can't Ignore Your Anxiety Panic Disorder

• Anxiety Disorder Symptoms: A Look at Types of Anxiety Disorder Symptoms