The difference between anxiety and depression

by Dr Lorin Bradbury

Question: What is the difference between anxiety and depression?

Mental health diagnoses aren’t as simple as reading a throat culture or identifying a bacterium or virus. As we describe syndromes in the field of mental health, many disorders have a great deal of overlap, which can make it quite difficult to distinguish between two separate disorders. And two of the most common ailments that are difficult to tell apart are anxiety and depression. However, although they share some common symptoms, they are two distinct ailments.

What complicates mental health disorders is comorbidity, a condition in which an individual may have more than one disorder with overlapping symptoms. There are differences, however, and for clarification I will try to make a distinction between the two. I’ll start with the primary symptoms:

Anxiety:

• Apprehension about what is about to happen and what could happen in the future.

• Worried thoughts or a belief that something may be wrong.

• Feeling like you have to run away or avoid things that could cause further anxiety.

Depression:

• Feeling sad about the future, as if it were hopeless.

• Listlessness and lack of belief that positive things will happen.

• Little worry, but instead certainty of future negative emotions.

• Possible suicidal thoughts.

You may notice that your anxiety symptoms are worrying about something that might be happening. Conversely, depressive symptoms take an unfavorable outcome and see no way to prevent it. Depression can occur after someone has experienced anxiety, because someone dealing with severe anxiety can end up feeling drained and hopeless once the anxiety has passed. This is one reason why differentiating between the two can be difficult. It is not unusual for both disorders to occur at the same time or for depression to follow anxiety.

It is important to understand that both anxiety and depression can make you feel drained and fatigued. But in the case of anxiety, it tends to manifest itself after intense anxiety, while with depression it tends to be more constant – i blah – without any identifiable triggers. Other physical symptoms you might experience include:

Anxiety:

• Feeling nervous

• Feeling helpless

• Having a sense of impending danger, panic, or doom

• Have an increased heart rate

• Rapid breathing (hyperventilation)

•Sweating

• Trembling

• Feeling of weakness or tiredness

• Difficulty concentrating or thinking about anything other than your current worry

Depression:

• Severe lack of energy or motivation.

• Flat affect (complete lack of emotion) along with slowed thoughts and behavior.

• Severe changes in appetite, headaches and sleep disturbances.

• Changes in sleep: you cannot sleep or oversleep

• Unable to concentrate or find that previously easy tasks are now difficult

• Feeling hopeless and helpless

• Unable to control your negative thoughts, no matter how hard you try

• Feeling irritable, short-tempered or aggressive than usual

• Consume more alcohol than normal or engage in other reckless behaviors

• Experiencing thoughts that life is not worth living

Depression can be more dangerous to the individual’s health than anxiety, especially if the person experiences suicidal thoughts.

Lorin L. Bradbury, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist who practices in private practice at Bethel. For appointments he can be reached at 543-3266. If you have any questions you’d like Dr. Bradbury to answer in Delta Discovery, send them to The Delta Discovery, PO Box 1028, Bethel, AK 99559, or send them to [email protected]

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