Depression/Anxiety Q & A

What are depression and anxiety?

Depression and anxiety are common types of mental health problems. They frequently occur together and often have the same triggers. The Sunstate Medical Associates team often sees patients with these conditions and has considerable experience in helping patients recover.

The causes of depression and anxiety might be rooted in an experience like bereavement, job loss, relationship breakup, or any traumatic life event. Sometimes even positive experiences can lead to depression and anxiety, like having a baby or training for a new career. In other cases, there might not be any obvious reason why you’re experiencing depression and anxiety.

There are chemicals in your brain called neurotransmitters that play a key role in mood. If you lack neurotransmitters like serotonin, it can lower your mood and bring on depression. With anxiety, high levels of cortisol, a hormone made in your adrenal glands, can make you feel on edge all the time.

While the causes of depression and anxiety may be similar, their symptoms differ.

What are the symptoms of depression and anxiety?

Depression causes you to feel low all or most of the time. It’s natural to have changing moods, feeling down sometimes and happy at others. What isn’t normal is for those times when you’re feeling down all of the time. When you have depression, you might feel all sorts of negative emotions, such as:

• Sadness
• Misery
• Self-loathing
• Guilt
• Shame
• Despair

Depression takes all the positivity, optimism, and happiness out of your life. Every day becomes a struggle, and it might seem like there’s little worth living for.

Anxiety is another perfectly normal human emotion everyone feels at times, but if you’re always anxious or fearful, you could have an anxiety disorder. You might have anxiety that doesn’t focus on anything in particular, which is called a generalized anxiety disorder. Or you might have anxiety that focuses on something specific, which is the case with social anxiety and phobias.

How are depression and anxiety treated?

Treatments for depression and anxiety use two approaches:

Therapy

Talk therapies might be all you need for mild depression and anxiety. For moderate to severe conditions, therapy combined with medication is usually the most effective approach. If you need therapy or psychiatric treatment, your provider at Sunstate Medical Associates can refer you to the right person.

Medication

Antidepressant and anti-anxiety medications can be highly effective in rebalancing the neurotransmitters in your brain. There are many types of medication for depression and anxiety, so it can sometimes take a while to find the right treatment, but the right medication can be highly beneficial.

The Sunstate Medical Associates team provides compassionate care for anyone experiencing depression and anxiety. Call the team today to speak with a friendly team member or book an appointment online.