Anxiety and Depression: Causes, Symptoms and Long term Effects

Table of Contents

Background:

Most of us are often confused with the term ‘Anxiety’ and ‘Depression’ but these are two different medical conditions
Depression and anxiety are both the mental conditions
Depression is everything dull while anxiety is everything in hyper state.
Globally, more than 300 million people of all ages suffer from depression.
Depression occurs in people of all ages.
More women are affected by depression than men.
Depression in women is linked with the depression at the time of pregnancy, child birth and post-delivery. Thus, women are more affected by depression than men.
Similar to that of depression, females are more vulnerable to anxiety disorders than in male.

What do you mean by Anxiety?

Anxious is being worried.
Anxiety is when being worried doesn’t go away and one is worried for no reason.
People with anxiety or anxiety disorder doesn’t know how to stop the worry cycle
Worrying is often beyond their control.
Such situation can make it difficult for an individual to cope up with life.

The symptoms of anxiety differ from person to person. However,

Some of the symptoms of anxiety are:

Feeling worried or anxious all the time.
Restlessness and being easily fatigued
Trouble concentrating or difficulty focusing or thinking clearly about anything other than the thing you’re worried about
Experiencing recurring thoughts that cause anxiety, but may seem silly to others
Insomnia

These symptoms may occur or persist for more than 6 months.

Causes of anxiety:

a) Genetics: People with the family history of anxiety disorders are more likely to suffer from anxiety. However, this doesn’t mean that a person will automatically develop anxiety if a parent or close relative has had a mental health condition and neither it means that genetics is the only cause for anxiety.

b) Stressful life events: Stressful events can also trigger symptoms of anxiety. Common triggers may include: − job stress or changing jobs, relationships, family pressure, change in living arrangements, pregnancy and giving birth, recent exposure to a stressful or traumatic event, abuse or many other such issues can trigger the anxiety.

c) Medical factors: Continued physical or chronic illness can also trigger anxiety. Further, the side effects of the medicines, treatment procedure, and financial burden due to illness can cause anxiety.

d) Substance abuse: Heavy or long-term use of substances such as alcohol, cannabis, amphetamines or sedatives or withdrawal can actually cause people to develop anxiety.

It is must to know that anxiety can occur due to any of the mentioned reason or due to the combinations of the reasons.

What do we mean by Depression?

According to American Psychiatric Association (APA), “Depression (major depressive disorder) is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act.”
Although it is treatable, it can cause variety of physical and emotional problems and can decrease person’s efficiency of work.

Symptoms of Depression:

Depressed mood
Lack of interest in enjoyable activities
Increase or decrease in appetite
Insomnia or hypersomnia
Slowing of movement
Lack of energy
Feelings of guilt or worthlessness
Trouble concentrating
Suicidal thoughts or behaviors.

For a diagnosis of major depressive disorder, a person needs to have experienced five or more of these symptoms for at least two weeks.

Causes of depression:

Causes of depression is not well fixed. The causes for depression can vary from person to person. However, we should know that its causes are similar to that of anxiety:

a) Genetics: Family history of depression is often linked with the cause of the disease but however there is no enough evidence to support it.

b) Brain chemistry: Depression is believed to be caused by an imbalance in neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are responsible for carrying the signals in the brain for different purposes. Among the depressed person, the mood regulating neurotransmitters are often disrupted or depleted.

c) Illnesses: Presence of chronic illness and other disease can also cause the depression

d) Ageing: Depression is common among the older population. With the increase in age, one becomes more vulnerable to diseases, the brain cells too shrink, weakness increases, which often gives rise to depression.

e) Some other factors

Stress
Traumatic experience
Substance Abuse
Conflicts

Long term effects of anxiety and depression:

Sleeping disorders
- Anxiety and depression both disturb the sleeping pattern
- Insomnia is very common
- Quality of sleep is affected which can lead to other problems like fatigue, irritation, etc.

Effects on physical health
- Anxiety disorders can cause rapid heart rate, palpitations, and chest pain. This may increase the risk of high blood pressure and heart disease.
- Anxiety disorders can worsen the conditions when the CVDs are already present.
- Depression is considered as the one of the major risk factors for heart attack.
- Depression elevates the level of stress hormone or others, which may ultimately increase the risk of CVD.
- In addition, the patient already suffering from the depression are less likely to follow the treatment procedure and medication, thereby increasing the chance of mortality.
- Anxiety causes rapid, shallow breathing. If you have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), you may be at an increased risk of hospitalization from anxiety-related complications.
- Anxiety can also make asthma symptoms worse.

Psychotic disorders
- These kinds of diseases alter the way a brain function normally.
- Roller-coaster of the emotions and brain is flooded with the hormones at the time of the depression, or panic attacks, or stressed situation.
- These kinds of diseases make some more susceptible to other mental disorders.
- One can start developing the disorders at the time of depression, or panic attacks, or stressed situation which are difficult to overcome.
- Depression also affects the memory.

Suicides
- Anxiety disorders and depression highly fluctuates the emotion
- Patient in these conditions are likely to cut all the social ties
- Further, depression thrives on loneliness
- Untreated or long-term depression can often lead to suicide.
- Research shows that depression is one of the major reasons for suicide.