Anxiety and Depression

What is Anxiety?

Anxiety is a natural, usually short reaction to something stressful. It can feel like worry, nervousness, and apprehension and usually comes up in unfamiliar or challenging situations. Some anxiety is good, it can motivate and excite us, but when our nervous systems are constantly overrun by anxiety it can start to get in the way of the things we want to do.

People with an anxiety disorder may experience anxious thoughts and feelings frequently, sometimes at a level of severity that can disrupt their daily living. Anxiety can appear for no apparent reason and may keep going long after a stressful situation is over. The nervous system can learn to overreact to any possible threat, which means a lot of time is spent dysregulated. Anxiety ruling your life can also lead to negative feelings about yourself and the world, potentially causing depression as well.

Treating anxiety can help you find balance, so you can manage anxiety around your life rather than let anxiety manage your life.

What is Depression?

Depression is more than feeling sad because of something that has happened. It is a serious issue where sadness and emptiness are prolonged and interfere with your life and relationships. It can throw off our sleep, self-care, and general functioning. We can lose interest in our hobbies, our work, and everything else that previous brought us fulfillment. For some, depression can morph the idea of something as seemingly simple as a shower into an overwhelming task. Depression can also disrupt our concentration, or make us feel anxious and irritable

How are they Linked?

Depression and anxiety are different conditions, but often happen together, feed into each other, and are treated similarly – about half of people with either disorder will also have the other. Feeling anxious all the time effects how we feel about life and ourselves which can feed into depression. Depression can cause anxiety on its own, and it can also impede on life enough to bring up the kind of stress that leads to anxiety. It is very easy to end up with both anxiety and depression, as they can both be caused by stress, trauma, and each other.

How Satori Can Help

As well as providing practical strategies to support you between sessions, the therapist will work together with you, to explore what underlying issues might be present and to understand how your nervous system has learnt to react to environments and situations, which then shows up in the body as anxiety and depression.