For those of us struggling with mental health challenges, it can be of great benefit to our recovery to gain a deeper understanding of what it is we’re experiencing. When we are diagnosed with anxiety and depression, it is often because we are in crisis. We may have recently been hospitalized. A loved one might have sought help from a medical professional. We feel the heaviness of our symptoms and can have an extremely difficult time navigating the mental and emotional crisis we’re experiencing.
In those critical times, we feel a tremendous amount of confusion and overwhelm around our diagnosis, our symptoms, and our chance of recovering. Learning more about the relationship between anxiety and depression can not only ease some of that confusion but can also help us to navigate solutions for healing. Athens Area Commencement Center can help you better understand your anxiety and depression, helping you to heal both mental health challenges and substance use disorders (SUDs).
Anxiety and Depression: Co-Occurring Disorders
Some of us may experience anxiety and depression together, and others of us may only experience one or the other. We might have anxiety and depression symptoms chronically over time, or in particular during depressive episodes. The two health challenges are, in fact, so often experienced simultaneously that they are considered co-occurring disorders with high rates of comorbidity. As a result, anxiety and depression are often treated similarly with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and other forms of talk therapy.
Differences Between Anxiety and Depression
Culturally, we tend to speak about anxiety and depression together, as there are many similarities and connections between them, but there are also some key differences. Anxiety is often described as feelings of heightened fear, nervousness, panic, or agitation. Depression, on the other hand, is often marked by feelings of low mood, emotional numbness, despondence, and prolonged sadness. Anxiety can sometimes lead to an increase in energy, with feelings of urgency often brought on by spikes in our adrenaline levels. Depression, rather, is often linked to low energy levels, fatigue, lethargy, and an inability to self-motivate.
Understanding Trauma to Heal from Anxiety and Depression
Healing from anxiety and depression, for many of us, means getting to the root of the traumas that contributed to them. We might have felt the onset of our depression coincides with a particularly traumatic experience. Our anxiety symptoms might be exacerbated by triggering memories of past traumas. With mental health challenges, especially chronic bouts of anxiety and depression, it behooves us to understand where they come from. Instead of only trying to treat the symptoms, we want to examine, understand, and heal the traumas that helped create those symptoms.
Anxiety and Depression: Finding Deeper Understanding
Without this very important self-examination and learning process, anxiety and depression symptoms often tend to linger. Anxiety and depression feed on our avoidance, which is rooted in fear. Facing our mental health challenges head-on allows us to learn from them, helping us find the tools to manage and even heal from them. Many of us with chronic mental illness have recurring episodes, with our symptoms often worsening over time.
Having more clarity about our anxiety and depression brings us a deeper understanding of ourselves and our lives, giving us even more strength and resilience to recover. At Athens Area Commencement Center, our years of experience in addiction recovery give us unique insight into the mental health challenges we face when living with addiction.
Anxiety and Depression: Addiction
Just as anxiety and depression are often experienced together, they too often accompany addiction. When living with SUD or other forms of addiction, it is quite common to experience symptoms of anxiety and depression. Most of us struggling with the highs and lows of addiction are mentally and emotionally very unstable. We feel anxious, depressed, fearful, and sad.
As such, anxiety, depression, and addiction can all be considered and treated as co-occurring disorders. Athens Area Commencement Center treats not only addiction but also the co-occurring mental health challenges that people experience alongside their addictive patterns.
Treatment Options
Both anxiety and depression can be treated with medication. In addition, there are also several less conventional methods that medical professionals often prescribe instead of, or in addition to, medication.
Exercise has been proven to be as effective as antidepressants in reducing symptoms of depression in some individuals. Psychological therapy, such as CBT, can provide the supportive relationship and the tools we need to unearth and heal from past traumas.
Meditation can help us to quiet our minds, ease our anxiety, and work through our difficult emotions. Energy healing modalities, such as Emotional Freedom Techniques, also called EFT Tapping, have been shown to help even acute cases of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
As we recover from addiction, also doing the work to heal from our anxiety and depression allows us to move forward in our lives with more ease and happiness.
Addiction recovery also involves healing from the mental health challenges that accompany our addictive patterns, namely anxiety and depression for many of us. If you’re struggling with anxiety and depression, first, know that you’re not alone. Second, reach out for help. Finding a community that surrounds you with love and support can make all the difference in your recovery journey. At Athens Area Commencement Center, we understand the many multifaceted challenges you face with your mental health when living with addiction. Call us today at (706) 546-7355 for more information on our treatment programs. We’ll walk you through the process, get to know you as an individual, and help you get started.