Anxiety & Depression

Anxiety and depression affect a significant portion of our population: 18.1% of US adults  had some form of excessive anxiety within a 12 month period in 2005 and 9.5% have some form of mood disorder.¹   The numbers for a US adult having either of these two issues at some point within their lifetime is even higher: anxiety disorders, 28.8%; mood disorders, 20.8%.² Genetics, how we were raised, poor nutrition/eating habits, lack of physical exercise, not enough sleep, use of drugs and alcohol, and life events can all play a role in why someone might struggle with anxiety and/or depression.

Trying to eat three well-balanced, healthy meals (that include adequate protein and complex carbohydrates), getting adequate sleep (minimum 6-7 hours/night), regularly exercising (even if it’s just a 10 minute walk up the street and back), and avoiding use of drugs and alcohol can go a long way in helping to reduce the intense emotions you may be struggling with.  Additionally, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and an newer off-shoot of it, Dialectal Behavioral Therapy, are two forms of therapy that scientific research shows to be quite effective in treating both anxiety and depression. (And, if there is underlying trauma that fuels the anxiety and/or depression, other types of therapy like EMDR, Brainspotting, Somatic Therapy, and Developmental Needs Meeting Strategy (DNMS) can really go a long way with helping the body come back to being able to feel safe and secure and significantly reliving the depression and anxiety symptoms.)

As this site continues to grow, you will find resources to help you better understand some of the struggles you are going through, to help you realize that you aren’t alone, and to find ideas about how you can move forward through the more challenging times in your life while reaching out to others friends and family (and/or therapist if you need) for support. Be sure to check out the How to Use This Site page to get you familiar with how resources are organized on the site.  For those of you who would rather just jump in without an instruction manual, you can either search for key terms or move your mouse over Resource Index by Topic in the top menu bar and jump right in!  The best place to start for issues based in anxiety or depression would be the Anxiety & Depression Index.

Sources:

¹ Kessler Ronald C., et al. Prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of twelve-month DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R). Archives of General Psychiatry, 2005 Jun;62(6):617-27.

² Kessler, Ronald C., et al. “Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication.” Archives of general psychiatry 62.6 (2005): 593-602