What do Anxiety & Depression look like?

Having seen a recent post on LadBible (regarding the distribution of blue parking badges for those suffering from anxiety) and then the cesspool of negative, illogical and ill-founded comments on that post via its social media platforms, I felt it necessary to explain what anxiety and depression actually are. It appears that, generally speaking, there is a sheer lack of understanding as to what these conditions are. I will address the stigma attached to mental health in future blog posts. Anxiety and depression are two are very distinct conditions, but they do have a significant overlap. Often, people who suffer from one will have bouts of the other. As you can appreciate, everyone's experience differs; below is generic information supplemented by my experience.

Anxiety:

Put simply, anxiety can be described as a feeling of unease, worry or fear. At this point, I want to say that the occasional feeling of anxiety, particularly about events or situations that are challenging, stressful or threatening, is a normal and extremely common response. However, when anxiety is persistent and infringes on an individual's daily life, it may be a sign of a disorder. It can impact on your ability to carry out daily tasks, such as withdrawing or avoiding contact with friends and family (or social situations more generally) or feeling unable to go to work.

Typical symptoms can include any of the following:

• Restlessness

• Feelings of dread

• Feeling “on-edge”

• Difficulty concentrating

• Difficulty sleeping

• Irritability

• Other physical symptoms are common, which include: dizziness, nausea, a strong & fast heartbeat, sweating, shortness of breath, headache, and/or dry mouth.

My personal experience of anxiety has seen a mixture of those symptoms. The most common for me are: the feelings of dread/being on edge, difficulty concentrating on my studies, feeling sick, shaking and a powerful heartbeat in my chest. Everyone exhibits different combination of symptoms.

Generalised Anxiety Disorder, which is a single, common type of disorder, is estimated to impact 5.9% of adults in England. There are of course, other types of disorder with slightly different symptoms. Therefore, the number of individuals affected by a derivative of anxiety is likely to be much higher.

Depression:

Depression, on the other hand, is a common mental health problem that causes people to experience any of the following: low mood, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy, and poor concentration. Immediately, we can see how the overlap between anxiety and depression operates. The level of feeling does vary substantially between different people; some suffer from 'mild' depression whereas others suffer from 'severe' depression.

Overall, depression generally incorporates a feeling of sadness or feeling hopeless. However, there are further symptoms to be aware of:

• Tiredness and loss of energy (Feeling lethargic)

• A lingering feeling of sadness

• Loss of self-confidence and self-esteem

• Difficulty concentrating

• Not enjoying things that are usually pleasurable or interesting (sport, hobbies etc.)

• Feeling anxious all the time

• Avoiding other people

• Feelings of helplessness and hopelessness

• Sleeping problems – difficulties in falling to sleep or waking up much earlier than usual

• Very strong feelings of guilt or worthlessness

• Finding it hard to function at work or school

• Loss of appetite

• Physical aches and pains

• Thinking about suicide and death (If this applies, please contact The Samaritans at: https://www.samaritans.org)

• Self-harm (Again, please contact The Samaritans at: https://www.samaritans.org)

Much like my experience with anxiety, I've had a combination of the above symptoms. On reflection, I think all but self-harm have applied to me at some point. More recently, however (and thankfully, considering where I have been in the past), the feelings of sadness, hopelessness etc. are more applicable. It's still a work in progress, but I am slowly curbing them. Depression is a dark place to find yourself and it is absolutely crippling. Please know that you are not alone in this fight. Please do not suffer in silence by putting on a brave face. It doesn't help the situation. There are people who can help, but, it takes a leap of faith in terms of disclosing it to someone. I completely appreciate how difficult and how terrifying it is. Having been there myself, I found speaking to someone I unconditionally trust helps massively. It can also lead to conversations with loved ones who suffer from similar problems, thus giving you a support network.

For more information on either anxiety and/or depression, please feel free to look at the following links:

• https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/

• https://www.mind.org.uk

• https://www.depressionalliance.org

• https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/d/depression

• https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/a/anxiety

Remember: you are a beautiful human being. You are loved. You matter. You have so much good that you can offer this world.

Until next time,

J x