Anxiety and Depression

Understanding Anxiety and Depression

Anxiety disorders are conditions that should be taken as seriously as physical ailments such as heart disease or diabetes. In the United States anxiety disorders are mental health concerns.

Depression is a state where a person feels discouraged, sad, hopeless lacks motivation or loses interest in life for than two weeks affecting daily routines.

Major depression is a condition that impacts a persons thoughts, feelings, actions and abilities. About 3 to 5 percent of individuals experience depression at any given time; the lifetime risk is around 17 percent.

Experiencing anxiety is a part of life.

However if you face anxiety that seems uncontrollable and overwhelming it may be worrisome. If this anxiety turns into a fear that interferes with situations to the extent of hindering your daily activities seeking help is essential.

The term "anxiety disorder" refers to conditions marked by fear or worry. These include generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) panic disorder, with panic attacks; agoraphobia; social anxiety disorder; selective mutism; separation anxiety; and specific phobias.

Compulsive disorder (OCD) and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are closely associated with anxiety disorders and can often coexist with feelings of depression.

Depression and anxiety often occur together displaying symptoms such as feeling down low self esteem, sleep problems, fatigue or increased nervousness. These emotional states can emerge unexpectedly in those dealing with depression or in response to triggers. Some symptoms may overlap between conditions indicating common vulnerabilities among various disorders. Conditions like OCD and certain ADHD/ASD diagnoses may include aspects of both depression and anxiety. Therapy sessions and treatments like EMDR therapy have been found to help in the healing process. Both of these interventions are offered at Changes Psychololgies.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

OCD is a long term condition characterized by recurring thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors (compulsions) that individuals feel compelled to repeat.

Post Stress Disorder (PTSD)

PTSD is a mental health condition that can be incapacitating for those who have experienced or witnessed traumatic events with serious or life threatening consequences.

Individuals diagnosed with panic disorder suffer from panic attacks. Typically have ongoing anxiety about experiencing another one.

Agoraphobia

Agoraphobia occurs when individuals avoid situations due to fear of becoming overwhelmed, by anxiety and being unable to escape or seek assistance.

People with agoraphobia often avoid places they fear would be difficult to leave, such as shopping malls, public transport open spaces like parking lots or enclosed spaces like theaters. It's not uncommon for individuals with panic disorder to also experience agoraphobia.

Specific phobias can cause individuals anxiety when they know their fear is irrational.

Many of us struggle with sleep issues finding ourselves tossing and turning or constantly checking the time when we have trouble falling asleep.

Social Anxiety Disorder, also known as phobia is characterized by a fear of being judged, negatively evaluated or rejected in social or performance situations.

Stress and anxiety are emotions that everyone encounters at some point. Stress usually arises in response to perceived threats in a situation while anxiety results from the reaction to stress.

The psychological distress that follows exposure to events varies from person to person. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can present as anxiety or fear for some individuals. It's clear that not everyone responds to situations, with anxiety and depression. Some may exhibit signs of anger or aggression while others may show dissociation or avoidance behaviors. Because people exhibit distress in ways following events these disorders are classified separately as trauma and stress related disorders.

Feelings of anxiety, depression and other reactions can vary in how they show up in children, teenagers and adults even though they are often linked to trauma or stress.

Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder affects 3% of the population making it relatively common compared to conditions like schizophrenia, which impacts around 1% of individuals.

Previously known as manic depressive illness bipolar disorder was renamed in 1957 to distinguish between mood disorders that involve only depression and those that also include mania. The term "bipolar" can be misleading since symptoms of both mania and depression can overlap than always appearing as separate entities. Usually the primary symptoms help determine whether a person is experiencing depression or mania within the disorder; however sometimes it can be challenging to differentiate. May be referred to as a mixed state. The presence of mania or hypomania (or a mixed state if the criteria for mania are met) confirms the diagnosis of the disorder.

Hypomania and mania present symptoms with a distinction in terms of impairment; specifically mania significantly affects functioning while hypomania does not.

Treatment

Effective treatment for disorder typically involves a combination of medications and therapy, for optimal results. In some cases managing the condition may require three or fewer medications; therefore considering a reassessment of medication is recommended.

The core of medication treatment involves using medications like mood stabilizers and anti manic drugs such as lithium, divalproex sodium several second generation antipsychotics and various anti epileptics.

Decisions on which medications to use are usually based on how an individual responds to them and how tolerable they are often requiring a trial and error approach supported by evidence.

Antidepressants are now seen as effective than previously believed. They may still be useful for individuals with anxiety disorders or those experiencing treatment depression despite being on mood stabilizers.

Many therapies, like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or family focused therapy are known to be beneficial based on evidence. Identifying and managing disorders require the expertise of mental health professionals. With treatment individuals with a disorder can often regain the fulfilling lives they enjoyed before falling ill. Positive outcomes are possible.

Given the complexity of the disorders an individual may have especially when combined with neurodiversity factors each behavioral or therapeutic intervention is carefully tailored to meet the unique needs of each person.

Family therapy and sometimes group therapy can be highly beneficial in cases where there are additional co existing conditions, in neurodiverse groups – commonly involving issues related to eating or sleeping that I've observed frequently over my years of practice.

Whenever I take on a task I make sure to have a discussion, with the childs family if there are any challenges or with the adult to understand their preferences. Sometimes individuals struggle with understanding their origins and identifying their desires and requirements which're crucial aspects of personal growth.

CBT

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a type of talking therapy. It is a common treatment for a range of mental health problems. CBT teaches you coping skills for dealing with different problems. It focuses on how your thoughts, beliefs and attitudes affect your feelings and actions.

Trauma/PTSD Therapy

I offer trauma focused cognitive behavioural therapy (TF-CBT). This treatment is suitable for children, adolescents and adults to overcome and heal from trauma or post traumatic stress. What is traumatic for one person may not be for the next and each client is treated with respect and a listening ear.

Sessions are an hour, conducted either in person or online. Further, where appropriate and it is felt it will be conducive to healing, I offer EMDR.

Please use the contact form to book your session. The initial assessment of 30 minutes is free.