How Marmful Myths Can Deepen Anxiety and Depression

A speedy recovery from anxiety and depression is often hampered by a number of harmful myths believed by sufferers and practitioners alike. In believing these myths, anxiety and depression are prolonged so it's absolutely vital you are aware of the following myths so you select the correct treatment and get better quickly.

When you suffer from anxiety and depression, exhaustion is one of the hardest symptoms to deal with. Because of this crushing exhaustion, many sufferers believe that a lack of sleep is the main cause of anxiety, stress and depression. The belief is that the less restful sleep you get the more prone you are to these illnesses. This is putting the cart before the horse. Sleeplessness - or even too much sleep but still feeling exhausted - is a symptom of both anxiety and depression. The exhaustion you feel occurs because you have descended into anxiety or depression and it happens because of a sequence of events common to both anxiety and depression. You don't feel exhausted first, then descend into anxiety or depression after. The good news is that when you treat the root cause of anxiety and depression, the exhaustion eases because you will enjoy restful sleep again.

For lots of people, an episode of anxiety and depression is often triggered by a traumatic event. For example, a death of a loved one, job loss, a relationship breakdown, these kinds of events. The conclusion is that traumatic events cause severe stress, leading to depression and anxiety. This is completely untrue because no event, no matter how traumatic, can ever cause anxiety or depression. This is easily demonstrated because every one of us will have to deal with traumatic events during our lives. But not every one of us will become anxious or depressed during these times. The reason why this is so lies in the way people are able to make sense of these events. The events themselves cannot cause anxiety or depression.

When it comes to treating anxiety and depression, most sufferers believe antidepressant drugs such as Effexor, Prozac, Zoloft, and Celexa for example - are the most effective treatment. The problem with using drugs to treat anxiety and depression is that they only treat one of the symptoms - reduced levels of serotonin, a "happy chemical" in the brain. As soon as a person stops taking the drug, the root cause will surface and another episode of suffering results. Drugs may help you feel better in the short term, but they cannot offer you a cure.

Most people who suffer from anxiety and depression believe that once you have anxiety or depression, you have it for life. I promise you, as someone who suffered terribly with anxiety and depression and who overcame them, that this is completely untrue. Both of these problems can be successfully treated using a variety of techniques that address the root cause - destructive modes of thinking - and that also improve overall well-being. Anxiety and depression certainly aren't incurable that's for sure.

Anxiety and depression are all in the mind. This is another huge myth, mainly believed by people who have never suffered from these problems. There are many other symptoms that are part of anxiety and depression: back ache, muscle cramps, exhaustion, loss of appetite or increase in appetite, sleeplessness, hyper-tension, and loss of sex drive to name but a few. Dismissing anxiety and depression as being "all in the mind" simplifies them and shows a complete lack of understanding about them. All of these symptoms combined make it so very hard for sufferers to do even the simplest of daily tasks and cause so much anguish. If anyone tells you it's "all in your mind" ignore them, they don't know what they're talking about.

These myths will do nothing other than prolong your suffering - and may even deepen the suffering - if you indulge them. You can conquer anxiety and depression and you can conquer them quickly by avoiding what doesn't work and concentrating on what does so you don't waste time. Make your knowledge work for you and you'll soon feel better!

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