Mental Illness : Depression & Anxiety

This post is meant to provide a brief overview on symptoms of mental illness and then insight into living with the symptom. It should not be used as a diagnostic tool, but if you relate to what you read, it may be time to have a conversation with a mental health professional. 

Mental Illness comes with a constellation of symptoms and can vary from person to person even with the same diagnosis. Depression and Anxiety are common symptoms as well as being a diagnosis on their own.

Anxiety is an intense, excessive, and persistent worry and fear about everyday situations. There are many types of anxiety disorders such as Agoraphobia, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, etc.

According to the Mayo Clinic common symptoms include:

• Feeling nervous, restless or tense.
• Having a sense of impending danger, panic or doom.
• Having an increased heart rate.
• Breathing rapidly (hyperventilation).
• Sweating.
• Trembling.
• Feeling weak or tired.
• Trouble concentrating or thinking about anything other than the present worry
• .Having trouble sleeping.
• Having an upset stomach or other problems with digestion.
• Having difficulty controlling worry.
• Having the urge to avoid things that trigger anxiety.

Anxiety is more common than depression with a third of adults in the U.S. experiencing it within their life time. It can interfere with daily life and routine activities such as holding down a job, managing schoolwork, and relationships.

Treatment for anxiety typically involves therapy and/or medication. There are many types of medications that may be used to treat anxiety with SSRIs, SNRIs, benzodiazepines, buspirone, and beta-blockers being common choices depending on the type of anxiety.

More Information Here: National Institute of Mental Health

Depression is more than just being sad or having a bad day. It is a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. Depression can be a symptom of many mental illnesses or a diagnosis on its own such as Major Depressive Disorder. It may also be part of a cycle of mood changes for those with Bipolar Disorder.

Hormones can also play a role in depression symptoms as part of Postpartum Depression and Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD).

According to the CDC* symptoms of depression include:

• Feeling sad or anxious often or all the time
• Not wanting to do activities that used to be fun
• Feeling irritable‚ easily frustrated‚ or restless
• Having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep
• Waking up too early or sleeping too much
• Eating more or less than usual or having no appetite
• Experiencing aches, pains, headaches, or stomach problems that do not improve with treatment
• Having trouble concentrating, remembering details, or making decisions
• Feeling tired‚ even after sleeping well
• Feeling guilty, worthless, or helpless
• Thinking about suicide or hurting yourself

Depression is extremely common with 1 out of 6 adults experiencing it sometime in their lifetime. The most common treatments for depression are therapy and medications (typically SSRI or SNRI varieties). Those with Postpartum Depression or Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder may also be treated to balance hormones.

More Information Here: National Institute of Mental Health

" Depression and Anxiety are the primary symptoms I am being treated for as part of my PTSD. 

The anxiety impacts my daily life the most because I am borderline agoraphobic without medication. I get physical symptoms of anxiety even if I feel calm mentally. Its so frequent that I stopped wearing a smart watch because it was logging my racing heart as workouts when I was just sitting at my desk at work answering emails. I will mix liquid holy basil with tea to sip at work to help maintain that anxiety symptoms at a lower level so that I can work more efficiently.(Note: Holy Basil is a supplement that some people find helps with anxiety but you should absolutely tell your doctor if you are taking it because it can impact blood clotting.)

The anxiety seems to mix heavily with the hypervigilance for me, so being in places with lots of people or without clear lines of sight can push me into panic attack territory. Most of the time I can still function through a panic attack enough to walk out of a place or get somewhere "safe", usually my car. My heart will be racing and its hard to focus and breath but I just make myself practice box breathing and try to stay focused on the next simple task.

Sometimes I am otherwise having a good calm day at home and I can feel the anxiety in my chest, so I will be sitting watching youtube videos with my husband and just be like... man this really sucks and I don't want to feel like something is going to attack me. Usually my husband will just rub my shoulders until my heart rate comes down. It makes it hard to sleep or even stay asleep after waking up.

I have rescue meds I can take for panic attacks. Its a type of antihistamine that can act as a sedative. It works pretty well but also makes me very very sleepy so I don't like having to take it at work.

Interestingly, I don't have social anxiety. I am confident with interpersonal interactions and don't seem to struggle there.

My experience with depression as an adult is mostly that it makes me tired and gives me brain fog. I struggled a lot with it becoming more of an issue when I used hormonal contraceptives, so much that I had to be taken off multiple types because I was getting the severe side effects for it that you are supposed to immediately tell your doctor about. There was also some issue with suicidal ideation increasing with both hormonal birth control and some SNRI medications.

The depression symptoms were definitely more of an issue when I was in my teens, but it is hard for me to gauge how much of that was caused by my hormonal birth control use throughout those years."

-D.M.

* I have included a link to the CDC's website in this post because at the time of writing it is still functional. The current changes happening in the USA may result in this no longer working, at which point we will begin looking for alternate sources to reference.