We want to find better ways to deal with anxiety and depression. That's why we go to therapy. Other times we need help to build better relationship or get over trauma.

 

Anxiety is worry.

 

Worry is necessary. Our ancestors used worry to protect themselves from danger which is important in order that we can fight or flee. We have stress in our lives - not from wild animals, but from problems that need solutions.

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Nowadays we may worry we will fail an exam or we lose our job. These are the sort of worries that are dealt with by our frontal lobes brain which will guide us to find solutions.  

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Stress is a response to a threat in a situation. 

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Anxiety is a reaction to the stress. When we don’t treat  long standing anxiety, major consequences may arise.

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When we worry too much, we suffer panic attacks.

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Panic attacks are usually experienced as a result of misunderstanding physical symptoms of anxiety and may have other medical reasons. Moreover, they are unpredictable and feel like a heart attack, but they are not. Panic attacks are not a mental health problem itself and they are good for you. It is a way that your body tells you to stop worrying about issues that need solving. Women are diagnosed with panic attacks more than males.  

“We cannot selectively numb emotions,

when we numb the painful emotions,

 we also numb the positive emotions.”

 

-Brene Brown

Depression starts from a knotty interaction of social, psychological and biological causes.

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Depression can’t be pinpointed to a spot in our brain. There is no real proof that medication (SSRIs selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) can treat depression.  Most people who have gone through sad life experiences (unemployment, bereavement, psychological trauma) are more likely to develop depression. Depression leads to more stress. There is a strong relationship between depression and physical health.  

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Treatment for depression is available and effective, but more than 80% of people never receive treatment due to stigma. Stigma is the mark of shame that depression carries and creates isolation, loss of hope and barriers for those who suffer to receive treatment. The good news is that stigma can be overcome through educating people and communities about depression and spreading a message of hope.

Trauma is the result of a stressful even that surprises us to the core.

 

We don’t know how to deal with it, we are scared and feel out of our limits of control. It makes us incapable of feeling emotions. At this stage it is very important to feel the emotion rather than pushing them away. When feelings are disallowed they do not disappear. They go into hiding, where they fester and cause trouble later on. Ponder on this: When do you need to yell loudest? When you are not heard. Feelings have to be heard.