What are Depression or Anxiety, and what are the symptoms?
Depression can be short-term, long-term or a single episode. Depression is characterized by sleep disturbance (hard to go to sleep or staying asleep), appetite issues (under eating or overeating), sadness, depressed mood, crying, fatigue, isolation, irritability, anger, lack of motivation, feelings of worthlessness, excessive or inappropriate guilt, diminished ability to think/concentrate, or a loss of interest in doing things, and some suicidal ideations or thoughts of death. These symptoms cause significant stress/impairment in social, occupational or other areas of functioning (APA, 2013).
Anxiety can also come and go, be short-term or long-term. A small episode of anxiety can be normal, as it is the body’s way of telling us that something needs to be done. Anxiety can be characterized as excessive worry, constant rumination about something, overthinking, being fidgety or restless, difficulty focusing, irritability, sleep disturbance (APA, 2013). A severe case of anxiety can result in a panic attack, which can feel like your heart is racing and shortness of breath and other feelings of panic and a loss of control.
Reference
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Desk Reference To The Diagnostic Criteria from DSM-5. American Psychiatric Association, Arlington, VA.
John Casey, MSW, MBA, LCSW
Very good
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