Anxiety and Depression

Anxiety and depression are long-term psychological conditions that interfere with your daily life. Whenever we encounter challenges and problems like paying bills, taking a test, making a difficult decision, it is normal to worry every now and then. But when you or someone you know experience stress, trauma, frustration, regret over a long period of time, there is a possibility to develop these disorders.

Anxiety and depression develop out of the brain’s capacity to change (neuroplasticity) and the prolonged exposure to such unfavourable circumstances.

For example, a dyslexic child does not fully understand what is written on the board, takes times to copy down notes and misses a lot of things from the teacher’s discussion. He/she may find it difficult to catch up and would get low grades in exams.

For a child who’s as potentially intelligent as the rest of the class, poor academic performance can be very frustrating. If this persists into adulthood, they might think they are not good enough and would start to fear failures. He/she might not want to go to school anymore.

And as adults age, we can also feel helpless thinking that nobody cares for them, nobody likes them because they cannot do anything right, or that no one likes them thinking they will never be good enough could lead to isolation and depression.

Situations can really escalate eventually if not quickly if you will not do something today. Know more about the types of disorders, the signs, and the impacts of anxiety and depression. Also, discover more about on how the Australian Tomatis® Method can help below.

Anxiety disorders include conditions such as:

1. Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD): People with GAD often display excessive anxiety or worry for months
2. Panic disorder: Recurrent and unexpected panic attacks, which are sudden periods of intense fear
3. Social anxiety disorder: Having a significant fear of social and performance situations in which one expects to feel judged, rejected, embarrassed, or fearful of offending others
4. Phobias: Intense fear of a specific object or situation.

Depression can take in several forms. They can develop in various circumstances.

1. Persistent Depressive Disorder (PDD): Also known as “dysthmia”, a depressive state that lasts for at least 2 years
2. Perinatal Depression: Women experience a full-blow major depression during or after giving birth; they often feel extreme anxiety, sadness, and exhaustion
3. Seasonal Affective Disorder: Having depression during the winter months that generally lifts during spring and summer
4. Bipolar Disorder: Having extremely high (mania/ euphoria) and low (depression) moods
5. Psychotic Depression: Depression + Psychosis (delusions of guilt, poverty or illness, hallucinations, etc).

Normal anxiety usually happens for a short period of time and they are often connected with some stressful situations or happenings. However, someone with an anxiety condition gets disturbed more frequently and persistently that often lasts for six (6) months or more without an obvious challenge.

This is often debilitating to achieve an optimum quality of life. Each anxiety issue has its own unique set of signs and we have listed the general and specific signs of anxiety disorders and depression below:

1.  Palpitation of the heart
2. Worry
3. Chest tightening
4. Excessive fear
5. Tensed feeling
6. Restlessness
7. Avoidance of situations that would make one feel anxious
8. Fast breathing

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

1.  Feeling worried about so many things, events, and/or activities
2. Difficulty to stop worrying
3. Unmotivated to do daily tasks
4. Restlessness
5. Fatigue
6. Irritability
7. Muscle tension
8. Difficulty in falling or staying asleep

Panic Disorder

1. Short breaths
2. Hot or cold flushes
3. Sweating
4. Increased heart rate
5. Feeling numb or tingly
6. Feeling detached from yourself and/or your surroundings
7. Feelings of unreality
8. Scared of dying
9. Scared of losing control
10. Dizzy/ faint

Social Anxiety Disorder / Social Phobia

1. Feeling uncomfortable meeting new or unfamiliar people
2. Very nervous when performing in front of others
3. Distressed when being observed
4. Feeling very self-conscious in front of other people
5. Blushing, sweating, or trembling
6. Feeling nauseous
7. Trying to avoid some situations in your daily life (i.e. work, studying, hanging out with friends/ family)

Phobias

Phobias are extreme fear over a specific object or situation. Here are few of the most common examples:

1. Going near an animal – i.e. arachnophobia (fear of spiders), ophidiophobia (fear of snakes)
2. Exposed to heights (acrophobia)
3. Flying on an airplane (aero/altophobia)
4. Receiving an injection (trypanophobia)
5. Staying in the dark (scotophobia), dark (nyctophobia)
6. Avoided going to certain places (agoraphobia)

Anxiety disorders can decrease the quality of life. They are caused by a wide range of risk factors from parental factors to being divorced and having few economic resources. The following below are the most common impacts of anxiety disorders:

1. Depression
2. Frequent emotional and physical health issues
3. Trouble in school or at work
4. Family and relationship problems
5. Alcohol and drug abuse

People with anxiety disorders often do not acknowledge that they need help. It is also often difficult to pinpoint anxiety disorder especially that it can co-exist with other physical illnesses and other mental health disorders.