terrified the depression will come back

[Daisy131]

i have always suffered to some level a little bit of the winter blues- i love the warm weather and being outside, and being cooped up makes me a little squirrelly.

but this past winter, when my panic and GAD were at its peak, i experienced more than the blues. there were days i was in the FUNK- it was all i could do to get out bed (i was also unemloyed) and shower. i forced myself to go for walks, eat, socialize. everything felt like a struggle. i lost interest in everything, and my anxiety made me scared of everything.

i started a new job and slowly things have gotten better- i'm on a schedule, the weather is prettier and i'm outside more, i have great support in family, friends and my therapist/doctor.

but the past few days i've been terrified that the FUNK will come back again. it sometimes is a passing thought, sometimes is a crippling fear.

i'm wondering...for those whose depression was caused by severe anxiety, how did you or how do you keep it away? do you think it's true that depression is never really cured, just in remission? i don't want to struggle with it my whole life, but i'm afraid that i will after this winter.

[dbirm77]

My anxiety led to my depression.
The fear of living my life with all these anxious thoughts and feelings frightened me so much.
The more that I accept that the depression is an offspring of my anxiety, the less it scares me.
The fear of it returning is always there.
That's where the positive attitude and outlook come in.
You can combat some depressive symptoms by not allowing anxious thoughts to have their way with you.
Understand that depression in this situation is normal, and that as anxiety lessens so will the depression.

(To be clear...I am speaking about depression that is associated with anxiety.)

Good luck,
Drew


 

[Cally539]

Daisy, I have the same fear. I had depression brought on by me thinking that I may never be 'normal' again. I worry about if the depression will come back too. I really don't know how to combat this except like dbrim said, it is important to know that it is an anxiety symptom and understanding that it is like any other symptom. Good luck and glad to hear things are going well for you now.

[ron]

My anxiety also lead to my depression. This was difficult to come to terms with. It was easier to accept the anxiety and all the physical symptoms than the depression.
But with therapy i am beginning to understand that depression is just another symptom. As you learn to manager the other symptoms of anxiety , you also learn to manger the depression (sometimes its easier said than done).
I am currently on a low dose antidepressant, which helps to reduce the effects of the depression. This helps to make therapy more effective.
Slowly i am trying to not focus so much on the symptoms but on what the underlining cause of my anxiety. 

[Daisy131]

thanks for the advice guys- i know my depresison was brought on by the anxiety, but i have days when i get so frustrated and feel hopeless- like those days when i'm losing the battle against anxiety.

[dbirm77]

Daisy,

We wouldn't know good days without having bad ones.
The depression is a frightening bi-product of anxiety but one that does lift.
Keep working hard.

Drew

[Bama21]

Good stuff in this thread.

Always remember that the depression lifts when the anxiety goes.  It might be the LAST thing to go, but it does get better as you begin to feel that anxiety is not so much of a battle.  Depression as it relates to anxiety is simply the despair at having to "deal with" anxiety indefinitely.  Once the anxiety becomes something that you don't feel compelled to fight, it lessens...along with the despair (depression).