Is it anxiety or depression or both, how to determine your underlying condition???

[No Excuses]

Hello,

I've been dealing with anxiety/depression since yerars and now I am trying to recover for good; however, I am really confused what is my primary problem. If you click on ma "nick name" you can read posts where I am describing my symptoms. How to determine what you have anxiety or depression while having mix of symptoms. My symptoms started one day from Anxiety Panic Attack and then in few months I was depressed but then axniety phisical and mental symptoms occured often. I am so confused what is my problem if axniety causes depresion or opposite??? My pdoc thinks I have anxiety as a result I am depressed. The ssri's don't work for me, anxiety pils do but not in 100%. Lately I was so convinced I can recover from anxiety but then I started questining myself "maby it is depression, an I won't recover because it is harder";therefore, I have lost my hope. What do you think???

[No Excuses]

Tigere, Yes I am seeing psychiatrist who thinks my case is more a psychological conflict and anxiety is first then depression. I just started CBT but the doctor told me I sound little bit more depressed...so here is my doubt. Like i mentioned before my problems started with bad panic attacks for few months until I started feeling depressed..the mix still continue in a vicious circle.

Paxiled, I think you got a good point "one has to deal with one has, not what some list says"..... I think when I eliminate the anxiety from my life, my depression will subside or vanish.

Thanks

[Paxiled]

There's an interesting article I read about a year ago by Jerilyn Ross, who has made a small fortune  treating anxiety attacks with CBT.  She said that cognitive therapists hadn't taken depression enough into account in their practices, that it was obviously harder for depressed people to summon the will necessary to do the cognitive work to fight anxiety.  

I suffered a kind of chronic depression that got worse when I had a break-up for years, but didn't get the panic attacks until years later.  My sister, on the other hand, suffered from agoraphobia, but swore that she wasn't depressed, though she certainly sounded like she was to me.  I guess the answer is, one has to deal with what one has, not what some list says a disease is.  

[tigereyedjames]

Anxiety DEFINITELY cause my depression...I had never suffered from more than normal levels of depression, and never for long, until my anxiety started up...
And yes, as already stated, the mental health world is trying to combine the two under one description...for some people, they are inseperable...
Are you in therapy, or talking to a psychiatrist?

[kristine9190]

I am beginning to think that Anxiety can cause depression, some of us suffer so long, everyday, how can we not get depressed about it! I know I am getting there!

[dadinTN]

My psychologist basically said that anxiety and depression symptoms are so intermingled that the 'professional' world has considered combining the illnesses.

I personally thought I started with anxiety...after a couple of days of not knowing what was going on, I believe it turned into depression as I just saw no end to what I was going through.  

From my experience, I would agree that depression and anxiety symptoms go hand in hand.