Wondering

[soaring eagle]

I was wondering what is the difference between anxiety and depression?

Sometimes I think depression kicks in for me or is it anxiety? Can anybody help in that department?:confused:

[Guest ASchwartz]

Hi Soaring,

I will try to answer your question.

Anxiety is fear. Its designed to let us know there is danger near. Howeve, being human, we experience anxiety in the absence of real danger and thats when it becomes a problem.

Depression is feeling sad, down, hopeless, with low self esteem and a sense of inner emptiness.

Very often, anxiety and depression go together. A person can feel depressed and, at the same time, anxious. However, anxiety can happen without depression and depression can happen without anxiety.

Hope this helps.

Allan

[Waiting]

Hi Eagle,

I suffer from both depression and anxiety and I will try to define them through my experience.

Allan's definition of depression is good. It is when you focus on everything bad. You may be smart, but you focus on every dumb thing you have ever done and feel you are dumb. When you assess a situation you look at all the could go wrong and neglect to temper it with the reality that they may not be likely.

Anxiety to me in reality is deferent that Allen describes it. Maybe my experience differs from most. To me anxiety is just about not being able to stop thinking about things. Those things may be fears or they may be more just concerns, but for me the key thing is you can't stop thinking about things.

[soaring eagle]

Thanks for the info. I find that certain situations can trigger depression and anxiety both at the same time.

Over the weekend my son was attacked by six guys so that brought on my anxiety and feeling of helplessness for him. Therefore I have not been sleeping and having weird dreams.