Do you feel anxiety and depression simultaneously and are you wondering, is it possible to be anxious and depressed at the same time? Well, it is something that at first glance can be contradictory and that a priori we would not include in the same diagnosis, but there is a high comorbidity between both disorders.
Since the comorbidity among them is so high, there are many people who suffer from both depression and anxiety simultaneously. These cases are known as anxious depression, an adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood. If you want to know more about this type of adjustment disorder, keep reading! In this Psychology-online article, we will talk about Anxious depression: symptoms, causes and treatment.
Characteristics of anxious depression
When someone has the adjustment disorder of anxiety depression, they present emotional symptoms in response to identifiable stressors. The symptoms appear within three months following the onset of signs of stress. These behaviors are clinically significant. Next, we will see in detail the characteristics of anxious depression:
- Intense discomfort disproportionate to the severity or intensity of the stressor, taking into account the external context and cultural factors that could influence the severity and presentation of symptoms.
- Significant deterioration in the social and labor sphere or other important areas of operation.
- Once the stressor or its consequences have ended, the symptoms do not persist for more than six months.
- This stress-related alteration does not meet the criteria for another mental disorder and is not simply an exacerbation of a pre-existing mental disorder.
In addition to these criteria, it is important to highlight that to diagnose anxious depression, the specialist must identify that there is a predominance of both depressive and anxious symptoms.
Symptoms of anxious depression
What does a person with anxiety and depression feel? Let’s see what the main symptoms of anxious depression are, identifying which are related to depression and which to anxiety.
Symptoms related to depression
How do you know if you have anxious depression? Check out the main symptoms related to depression:
Symptoms related to anxiety
Symptoms of anxiety-related depression include:
- Digestive system involvement.
- Feeling of suffocation.
- Concern.
- Palpitations and/or tachycardia.
- Muscular stiffness.
- And other peripheral manifestations such as hyperflexia, hypertension, hyperhidrosis, or increased urinary frequency.
- Appearance of fears such as fear, losing control, madness, etc.
- Feeling of shame. In this article, we tell you.
- Confusion and distortions of perception.
- biased
- Irritability, restlessness or restlessness.
- Feeling of oppression, overwhelm or excessive worry.
- Avoidance.
- Control.
Causes of anxious depression
What causes depressive anxiety disorder? The behavioral characteristics of anxious depression occur in response to an identifiable stressor. Below, we tell you in detail what the main causes of anxious depression and its consequences are:
- Stressor: It can be a single event (such as the end of a romantic relationship or a job layoff) or there can be multiple stressors. These may be recurring or continuous and may affect a single individual, an entire family or a larger group or community.
- Significant and important events: the development of certain events such as starting school, getting married or returning to your parents’ home after becoming independent.
- Environmental: Its appearance will depend on the environment in which the person is subjected, a risk factor being those in which they are constantly subjected to stressors.
- Genetic and psychosocial factor: how our DNA is made up and what we learned in our autobiographical baggage.
Treatment of anxiety depression
The treatment of anxious depression should focus on alleviating the signs and symptoms manifested by the affected person. For this reason, it is recommended to follow psychopharmacological guidelines for anxiolytics and antidepressantsadministered jointly by a specialist.
As we always tell you in this type of disorders, it is important that psychopharmacological treatment is not the only one carried out, but that this should always be a support for psychotherapy to help increase its positive effects and improve treatment adherence. The goal is for the affected person to improve as quickly as possible.
In this article you will find more information about the different ones.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to Anxious depression: symptoms, causes and treatmentwe recommend that you enter our category.
Bibliography
- American psychiatric association, (2014). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM – 5. Madrid Spain. Pan-American medical publishing house.
- Belloch, A., Sandín, B., Ramos, F., (2009). Manual of psychopathology, volume II. Madrid. McGraw Hill / Interamericana de España, SAU
- Carlson, N. R. (2014). Physiology of behavior. Madrid. Pearson Education, S.A.