Depression and anxiety

DEPRESSION

Depression is a mood disorder and is considered to be a serious illness. It significantly affects the way you feel emotionally, physically, the way you think and behave, for example:

Emotions/Mood: very low mood (which can fluctuate over the course of the day; it may be worse in the morning and relatively better in the afternoon). This includes sadness, tearfulness, a feeling of worthlessness and inadequacy, guilt, anxiety, agitation and an inability to feel pleasure.

Mind: Low self-esteem and confidence, ruminating (dwelling) on bad feelings, how hopeless everything is and how bad the world is, sleeping badly, lack of motivation.

Body: weight loss (lack of appetite), weight gain (overeating) lack of energy.

Behaviour: Decreased engagement in activities, social isolation.

Someone is said to be experiencing depression when they experience some or all the symptoms for two weeks or more. Other forms of Depression include Minor Depression, Recurrent Brief Depression, Dysthymia and Bipolar Disorder.

ANXIETY

Anxiety is a general feeling of unease and everybody feels anxious at times i.e. prior to an interview or a presentation. However for some people anxiety can become pervasive and interfere with their daily functioning resulting in an anxiety disorder. It affects the way you feel emotionally, physically, the way you think and the way you behave, fore example:

Mind: feeling worried all the time, tiredness, irritability, sleeping badly and not being able to concentrate.
Body: racing heartbeat, sweating, muscle tension and pains, shaking, breathing heavily, dizziness, faintness, indigestion and diarrhoea.
Emotions/Mood: anxious, nervous, low mood, fear.
Behaviour: avoiding situations which trigger anxiety, social isolation, use of safety behaviours to reduce anxiety

Since the physical symptoms (above) can be very intense and extremely frightening, it is possible to become fearful of an anxious episode. This can develop into a panic attack. We usually associate panic attacks with certain situations, such as: being left alone or travelling on public transport.

Anxiety disorders can occur in the form of Generalised Anxiety Disorder, Social Anxiety, Panic Disorder, Phobias, and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

Post-Traumatic Disorder is another anxiety disorder that occurs as a result of witnessing/experiencing a traumatic incident(s).