Is anxiety caused by depression? Their treatment via medication and therapies

Here discuss what happens when anxiety is triggered and How is anxiety developed. Also, know about generalized anxiety disorder and treatment for chronic anxiety.

Posted by Rukhma Khalid on May 12, 2023

What anxiety is?

Anxiety is a common experience and it's a normal experience. When a person feels threat he tends to feel anxious. It's actually an important mechanism because anxiety prepares our body to manage the threat and to either fight or flight. Anxiety sometimes can persist and be disabling. And if this persists, the normal anxiety experience becomes an anxiety disorder.

Therapy for anxiety

Different types of anxiety:

Now, depending on what anxiety manifests as there are different kinds of disorders.

  1. Generalized anxiety disorder
  2. Panic disorder
  3. PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder

1. Generalized anxiety disorder:

The most common is called generalized anxiety disorder, which happens in about six in 100 people. It's characterized by a sense of general anxiety, free-floating anxiety, a sense of unease and apprehension, and can be quite disabling to function in daily life.

2. Panic disorder:

The other kind is called panic disorder, where people can feel an extreme surge in anxiety. So, they experience an acute spike and severe anxiety characterized by psychological and physical symptoms. They might feel that the world is about to end or they're about to die and it can be quite hard to manage that.

3. PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder:

Anxiety that stems from trauma can be quite disabling as well and people can experience flashbacks and nightmares of previous trauma. That condition is called PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder. People can also have an avoidance of things that remind them of the trauma. And they can also be hyper-aware of situations.

There are other less common disorders of anxiety, such as:

  • Social phobia
  • Agoraphobia
Is there cure for anxiety

Symptoms for anxiety disorder:

Anxiety can manifest in different ways. So, two people having anxiety disorders can have two different experiences. There are psychological symptoms, which include:

  • Feeling anxious
  • Feeling nervous
  • A sense of apprehension
  • Unease

There are also a set of physical symptoms, which are mainly due to adrenaline, which is increase in the body at times of anxiety. These Anxiety symptoms when sleeping also occur. The physical symptoms include:

  • Palpitations
  • Shortness of breath
  • Sweating
  • Dry mouth is a common anxiety symptom in the throat
  • Nausea
  • Also, experience Anxiety with chest pain

The psychological and physical symptoms can have a significant impact on lives. It can affect home life, it can affect work and relationships, and also it can affect productivity.

Why does anxiety develop?

Sometimes anxiety stems from a past traumatic event and their symptoms can be quite specific. People have nightmares of the traumatic event. In addition, people can feel hyper-anxious and hyper-vigilant, which means that they're more aware of what's going on around them and they're easily startled by small sounds.

Can anxiety be caused by hormones?

Yes, it can be due to a disturbance of 2 hormones called serotonin and cortisol.

Is anxiety caused by stress?

Yes, stress increases the cortisol hormone level in the body. Due to the increase, it relate to the anxiety.

What anxiety symptoms

What is anxiety and depression disorder?

Anxiety and depression are two separate conditions. But they both have the same mechanism in the brain. Anxiety can manifest in different ways, and depression can make it harder to manage. So, depression is not the name of feeling sad. Feeling sad is a normal daily experience. It is a normal response to something that a person lost something. feeling sad occurs when something troubling or upsetting us.

On the other hand, Depression is a medical condition. It's a clinical disorder. It's characterize by feeling low in mood, not being able to enjoy things, and feeling easily fatigued. People with depression can also have difficulty with appetite, sleep, and concentration. In addition, if the depression can prolong and persist, people start having difficulties with their relationships and productivity.

In some cases, depression also presents with cognitive symptoms. These include a sense of pessimism, hopelessness, and worthlessness, People can also experience a sense of guilt and the world can look a lot bleaker and more pessimistic. People with depression have thoughts of suicide and self-harm.

Diagnosis with anxiety:

It can cause by different factors and it is diagnose on this basis. Self diagnosis of anxiety is also essential.

  • Anxiety is treatable with a good clinical assessment. A good assessment will focus on individual symptoms. It will also look at what is really going on.
  • Sometimes medical conditions like a thyroid problems can occur as anxiety.
  • If someone uses substances or alcohol to manage anxiety, this can make things worse.

Natural ways to treat anxiety:

There are different general strategies that are helpful in managing anxiety. It can control by:

  • Good diet
  • Regular exercise
  • Maintaining a good sleep routine
  • Avoiding tablets and computers at night
  • Having good social contact and good relationships

Treatment for chronic anxiety:

The best way to manage chronic anxiety is through medication and psychological techniques. Therapy for anxiety is more specific management of anxiety. The psychological techniques are based on individual sets of symptoms. They include:

  1. CBT or cognitive behavioral therapy
  2. EMDR or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing
  3. CAT or cognitive analytic therapy

1. CBT or cognitive behavioral therapy:

There is a psychological therapy called CBT or cognitive behavioral therapy. It has good evidence for anxiety and depression. It works on challenging negative thoughts. Also, it implements certain behavioral changes to manage cognitive and physical symptoms.

2. EMDR or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing:

The other model of therapy that is helpful is called EMDR, which stands for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. This is a specific therapy applied to those people who have traumatic histories.

3. CAT or cognitive analytic therapy:

There is a third model of therapy that's called CAT, also known as cognitive analytic therapy. This specialized therapy works with people's relationships; both with themselves and others, and that can also help in trying to understand certain behaviors which can lead to reinforcing anxiety.

Medication for fight anxiety:

Now, the last treatment would be medication. Medication is very helpful in managing anxiety. As well and it works quicker than therapy. Generally, medication helps to restore the balance of two particular chemicals in the brain. These are called serotonin and noradrenaline. Also, anxiety propranolol also uses for this. Medication can have good effects within a couple of weeks, but usually, it can take up to six weeks for the medication to start working properly.