Depression and anxiety: Battle Through with Psychotherapy
Depression is a very common psychological disorder. As of today, more than 300 million people worldwide from all the age brackets suffer from it. It is emerging as the leading cause of disability. It has become one of the major contributors to the overall global disease burden. If it is left uncared for a long, it becomes a serious health problem that affects physically and psychologically both making the life a boring process.
| “If you want to be happy, don’t dwell in the past, don’t worry about the future, focus on living fully in present.” ― Roy T. Bennett |
Anxiety is another commonly talked about psychological disorder. Anxiety disorder is the most common and pervasive psychological disorder. Anxiety disorder refers to a specific psychiatric disorder creating a sense of extreme worry and fear. According to ADAA, almost 40 million adults in the United States alone suffer from this disease. Although it is treatable, yet 36.9% of people neglect their symptoms.
Anxiety Vs. Depression- Know The Difference:
Depression and anxiety are different medical conditions but their causes, symptoms, and treatments often overlap. Although both the terms are commonly referenced in conversations the numbers of people struggle to differentiate both. The one probable reason for naming both the diseases interchangeably may be that roughly 50% of people suffering from anxiety also suffer from depression and vice versa. However, you need to know the difference to treat both or any one of these:
| S.N. | Comparative Criteria | Anxiety | Depression |
| 1. | Introduction | Unpleasant inner turmoil state often reflected through nervous behavior | Low mood & aversion to activities affecting thoughts, sense of well-being, behavior and feelings |
| 2. | Feelings | Nervousness, worry, unease | Severe dejection, despondency |
| 3. | Psychological symptoms | Nervousness about future, desire to escape from challenges | Prolonged sadness, indifference, suicidal thoughts, hopelessness |
| 4. | Physical symptom | Hyperventilation, shaking, bowel issues, restlessness, muscle tension | Slow thinking, slow responses, headaches, cramps, excessive sleeping |
| 5. | Focus area | Fears for unexpected developments or fear to go something bad
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Negative thoughts with a sense that enough has gone bad |
Anxiety And Depression: Can You Have Both?
Yes, it is very much possible. Depression and anxiety are two different psychological disorders but most of the times these occur in parallel. Anxiety may be found as a symptom of depression; similarly, anxiety may trigger depression. The good thing is that both can be treated in parallel with almost similar treatments. Feeling tense or in a low mood for a short while because of a specific reason is normal but prevailed feelings of depression and anxiety for a long indicate mental health disorder. Depression and anxiety both can be treated easily through Psychotherapy without fearing for any side effect.
How Does Psychotherapy help to treat Depression and Anxiety?
Psychotherapists use different types of Psychotherapy to treat a particular set of mental disorder symptoms. The commonly applied Psychotherapy types are:
- Cognitive Therapy – The patient learns to identify a common pattern/s of negative thinking.
- Behavioral Therapy – It reinforces desired behaviors and eliminates unwanted behaviors.
- Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy – The blend of cognitive and behavioral therapies that is highly effective to treat depression and anxiety disorders.
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy – The patient learns to regulate emotions, improve relationships and cope with stress.
- Psychodynamic Therapy – The patient becomes more aware of vivid emotions including troubling ones and contradictory to see the feelings with a positive perspective.
- Interpersonal Therapy – It is focused more on interpersonal interactions and social roles.
In addition, Psychotherapist chooses the particular Psychotherapy format according to the mindset and personal comfort of the patient. The commonly used Psychotherapy formats are –
- Individual Therapy – It is a one-on-one association between therapist and patient.
- Family Therapy – It works on the dynamics within a family including all the concerned members.
- Group Therapy – It is administered to provide the patients with opportunities to give and receive the support from a group of 5-15 members.
- Couple Therapy – It is administered to couples geared towards marrying but desiring for improved functionalities and abilities to take on new responsibilities.
Get The Best From Psychotherapy For Depression /Anxiety Treatment – 10 Tips:
To get the best from the online or in-person Psychotherapy, you too need to invest your efforts as a committed patient. Understanding the problem and causes helps you treat it at the earliest; therefore, cooperate with the hired Psychotherapist and communicate without hiding any fact. Transparency is the key to success of Psychotherapy. The following ten tips may help you win the battle of depression/anxiety battle with the power of Psychotherapy:
- Be realistic- Take off the face mask and show all your faces behind the mask.
- Drain out the feelings – Let your feelings come out; instead of keeping them hidden because of hesitation.
- Suggest the possibilities – Look for the sources causing the problem and the possibility to change the source.
- Don’t make a distance – Establish a bonding with the therapist.
- Don’t be judgmental – Observe yourself but don’t curse yourself or judge yourself responsible for the damages done so far.
- Carry the fair share when you need – Know the difference between taking responsibilities and when to take responsibilities.
- Analyze your story you share with Psychotherapist – Yes, share your story to let the Psychotherapist analyze recurring themes and misconceptions responsible for depression or anxiety.
- Try the learning – Just attending a Psychotherapy session of fifty or sixty minutes wouldn’t work unless you apply the learning with confidence in your daily life activities.
- Enjoy the challenges – Facing challenges and complex situations is the part of life; enjoy taking challenges as an opportunity to prove yourself.
- Write down experiences – Whenever you get time, notice and write down the changes and benefits because of new tactics learned by Psychotherapy. The practice makes you more confident for improvements.
Concluding Note:
Recommendations from colleagues and community friends often lead you to a good Psychotherapy center but it’s up to you to decide – whether or not it will work for you. As the demand of Psychotherapy is increasing, numbers of Psychotherapists have started to provide this facility online making big claims; it is your right to compare and choose the best Psychotherapist with proven specialization in depression/anxiety treatment.
