What Is The Difference Between Anxiety And Depression

“You’re Fighting A War In Your Head Every Single Day. If That’s Not Exhausting I Don’t Know What Is.”

Anxiety and depression are two mental health conditions that are often confused with one another, yet they couldn’t be more different. Statistics have shown that roughly one in four people across the globe will be affected by a mental health issue at some point in their lives. That’s literally 25% of the entire world’s population. Despite this, there is still a certain stigma associated with mental health disorders that just should not be there.

People often suffer in silence and keep their troubles bottled up, rather than speaking up and admitting that they’re struggling. They do this for fear of being ridiculed and mocked, as they see their health issues as a sign of weakness. In reality this couldn’t be any further from the truth, as dealing with mental health issues makes you one of the strongest people in the world. Anxiety and depression are two very common conditions, but it does pay to know the differences.

Here’s a look at how you can distinguish between the two conditions.

Anxiety

We’ll start things off by looking at anxiety, what it is, and how it can affect people. Most commonly, this condition is characterized by feelings of nervousness, vulnerability, fear, and doubt. This could be apprehension about upcoming events, about a job, a relationship, or anything else for that matter. Basically, anxiety is a feeling of dread about something that has not, and may not, ever happen.

Anxiety symptoms – Understanding a condition is very helpful in regards to making a diagnosis and planning out potential treatments. To help you get a better understand about anxiety, here’s a look at some of the more common symptoms associated with the condition. These include, but are by no means limited to:

• Nervousness about future events
• An overly pessimistic outlook on life and always expecting the worse
• Feelings of wishing to escape from reality to avoid things that could exasperate the symptoms
• Constant feeling of dread and worry
• Sweating
• Erratic heart rate
• Shaking
• Trouble keeping still
• Difficulty in relaxing and concentrating the mind

Depression

We’ve looked at anxiety, so now it’s time to look at depression. Depression is a condition where people feel blue, and experience very low moods. Different people suffer from different levels of depression. We all experience low moods from time to time, but depression is the feeling of being stuck in the lowest, most awful mood you could ever imagine, and never being able to snap out of it and come through the other side, no matter how great your life may be.

Depression can literally be crippling, in that it can cause people to lose interest in activities they once deemed pleasurable. And in some cases, even in life itself. Because of this, individuals struggling with depression, have been known to sadly take their own life because they literally couldn’t see any other way out of the fog of dread and despair that was enveloping them.

Symptoms of depression – Of course, telling the difference between anxiety and depression is much easier when we fully understand the symptoms and know what to look for. Common symptoms of depression include:

• Very low mood
• Loss of interest in pleasurable activities
• Mood swings
• Feelings of hopelessness
• Feelings of self-loathing
• Failing to see the positives
• Suicidal thoughts and tendencies
• Lack of energy and motivation
• Weight gain or weight loss
• Insomnia
• Suppressed cognitive function

A deep understanding of this post on anxiety and depression will give you understanding. With understanding comes the ability to pave a way towards natural recovery. If others can do it so can you because remember;  you have all the resources within you to make it happen, now you just need the method.

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