[jkbob]

My T is convinced that I am depressed. I know I have anxiety but it's manageable most of the time. I've probably had a level of anxiety my entire life but it's only now that I've been able to recognize that. Over the past two years my anxiety has gotten much worse than it had ever been.

I've read that a symptom of depression is anxiety and irritability. I am irritable and moody, often but not all the time. I am not unhappy. I'm not thrilled with life but I am happy to be alive and get great pleasure out of being with my kids. I haven't been ultra motivated lately but I still do the things I want to do. I get out of bed every day, go to work, and care for my family.

Is this depression? Doesn't sound like it to me.

You might try the depression quiz on the PC quiz page. It is actually quite good. That might put your symptoms on a scale for you to consider.

[Perna]

Depression has many faces and I think isn't so much about happy/unhappy but more about motivation and jumping out of bed (as opposed to just "getting" out :-) because one is interested to see what the day has in store for one, not just because "it's there, might as well."

If anxiety and worry take up a big chunk of your life, it's hard to be anything but depressed. Anxiety and worry is supposed to help motivate us (like anger) to action, not have us spinning our wheels because it is so deep and we're stuck in it like mud. If you have been stuck for awhile in anxiety/worry, aren't really working to get out anymore but just "manage" then you could be depressed.

[BlessedRhiannon]

Originally Posted by jkbob

My T is convinced that I am depressed. I know I have anxiety but it's manageable most of the time. I've probably had a level of anxiety my entire life but it's only now that I've been able to recognize that. Over the past two years my anxiety has gotten much worse than it had ever been.

I've read that a symptom of depression is anxiety and irritability.

On the other side of the coin, anxiety can lead to depression - it can be a cause rather than a symptom.

I've dealt with some level of anxiety for as long as I can remember, and have gone through bouts of depression because the anxiety just became too overwhelming. Once I started to get the anxiety under control, the depression lifted significantly. One thing I found interesting about anxiety is that what I considered "manageable" most people would consider extreme. My perception was skewed because I've lived with it for so long. Once I went on meds for anxiety, I started to realize just how much I'd been dealing with, and just how much it was affecting me.

So, maybe you are depressed, maybe not, but I know that living with constant anxiety can have an emotional effect.

[jkbob]

Originally Posted by 1914sierra

You might try the depression quiz on the PC quiz page. It is actually quite good. That might put your symptoms on a scale for you to consider.

I have Chris and that's one of the reasons why I'm not quite convinced I am depressed. Most of the questions I answered never or not frequently. Only a handful of the 20 did I say quite often or frequently and those were more related to sleep and not getting stuff done which can be the anxiety not necessarily depression.

I'm on lexapro which is supposed to help depression and anxiety, we'll see how I feel in a couple more weeks. If I don't see a difference (will have taken the med for a month at that point) I may ask to try something more anxiety (or possibly ADD) related. I think I have ADD but then again it could be the anxiety/depression causing those symptoms.

Frustrating.