You are a human being, NOT a diagnosis

 

Anxiety, Stress, and Depression

People experience anxiety, stress, and depression in different ways. Symptoms may interfere with your daily work, negatively impact relationships, and be either the cause or result of certain chronic health conditions.

You may have received a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder or major depressive disorder from a healthcare professional or have labeled your own suffering as stress or depression. The label may even help to temporarily soothe discomfort or a medical professional may prescribe a psychiatric medication based on the diagnosis.

A diagnosis, whether its from a professional or self-diagnosed, does not necessarily mean you will get better with targeted treatment, whether that treatment is therapy, medication, or a combination of both. What is missing from a diagnosis is your humanness; your background, your environment, your uniqueness, your lifestyle habits, your story.

At Flourish, the full context of what you are experiencing is more important than the diagnosis. Below we will explore how to differentiate symptoms and consider a bigger picture of possible causes of three of the most common diagnostic labels; normalize how common it is to feel these symptoms; and outline our mindfulness- and holistic-based approach to wellness.

Symptoms

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Anxiety is a very normal response to stressful life events such as moving, changing jobs, or having financial troubles. However, when symptoms of anxiety become larger than the events that triggered them and begin to interfere with your life, they could be signs of an anxiety disorder.

Common symptoms of an anxiety disorder include, but are not limited to:

  • Excessive worrying

  • Feeling restless, agitated, overwhelmed

  • Difficulty concentrating, relaxing

  • Irritability

  • Panic attacks

  • Tense muscles

  • Trouble falling or staying asleep

  • Avoid social situations

  • Phobias / irrational fears

Stress and anxiety may seem similar, but they’re not the same. What’s the difference? Stress is a response to daily pressures or a threatening situation, while anxiety is a reaction to the stress. Stress that goes away when the stressors disappear is not a cause for concern. However, chronic stress can escalate to anxiety, depression, and other chronic health conditions.

Symptoms of stress include:

  • Headaches

  • High blood pressure

  • Chest pain

  • Heart palpitations

  • Weight gain or loss

  • Skin rashes

  • Loss of sleep

  • Digestive problems

Depression can be more than a constant state of sadness, hopelessness, or feeling “blue.” Major depression can show up as a variety of symptoms. Some impact your mood, while others influence bodily sensations and functions. Symptoms may also be ongoing or they may come and go.

When feeling hopeless or depressed, you may experience symptoms related to your:

  • mood, such as irritability, anger, aggressiveness, anxiousness, and restlessness

  • emotional well-being, such as feeling sad, empty, and hopeless

  • behavior, such as loss of interest in activities, withdrawing from social engagements, feeling tired easily, drinking excessively, using drugs, engaging in high-risk activities, and thoughts of suicide

  • sleep patterns, such as insomnia, restless sleep, excessive sleepiness, difficulty sleeping through the night, waking early, and sleeping too much

  • physical well-being, such as decreased energy, greater fatigue, changes in appetite, weight changes, aches, pain, headaches, and digestive problems

  • sexual interest, such as reduced sexual desire, lack of sexual performance

  • cognitive abilities, such as thinking or talking more slowly, an inability to concentrate, difficulty completing tasks, and delayed responses during conversations

Possible Causes

There are various causes of anxiety, stress, and depression, including a history of trauma, addiction, medication side effects, environmental stressors and/or toxins, and emotional hardships related to relationships, finances, career, and life purpose. When our built-in capacity to cope with stress is diminished, inflammation and other types of dysfunction are likely to occur and can show up as symptoms of anxiety, depression, and conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer.  

What conventional medicine often overlooks are the physiological factors that often contribute to a lack of resiliency and/or the inability to cope. Inflammation, metabolic dysfunction, nutrient deficiencies, and exposure to toxins can greatly affect the gut microbiome, producing significant changes in the stress response at the behavioral and neural levels. For instance, resilience to stress can increase by resolving dysbiosis of the gut microbiome, leading to improved mental health outcomes.

Statistics and Conventional Treatment

Prior to the year 2020, anxiety disorders affected 40 million adults (18% of the population), and one in ten adults (18 million) experienced depression annually. As of May 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that one-third of Americans now show signs of clinical anxiety or depression.

One in six Americans take some kind of psychiatric drugs—mostly antidepressants—and most are taking them long-term. Nearly a third of those who die from prescription drug overdoses were taking habit-forming benzodiazepine anxiety drugs, such as Valium or Xanax. Often, it is primary care physicians, who do not fully understand the risks of psychiatric medications, that are prescribing them.

With 30% of Americans now experiencing mental health issues, access to quality care is a problem. More than 12% of those with mental illness are uninsured and over 56% receive no treatment whatsoever. For those who have access to conventional treatment, the average amount of time spent with their physician or psychiatrist is 15 minutes or less. That’s nowhere near enough time for their doctor to assess the complexities of their health history, lifestyle, lab results, and emotional profile to formulate a comprehensive treatment plan that addresses root causes.

Flourish’s Holistic Approach

At Flourish, our approach is a holistic one. We don’t view you as a list of symptoms or diagnoses, but rather, as a whole person. It is our top priority to identify and sustainably treat the underlying causes of your mental health symptoms so that you can thrive, medication-free. And since we spend a lot more time with you than 15 minutes, we get to know you, your story, and can collaborate with you on your wellness journey.

Our licensed therapists and nutritionists assess your situation from a variety of angles, treating you as a unique individual while building a trusting therapeutic relationship. Treatment methods used include mindfulness-based interventions, cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal neurobiology, and functional nutrition. Woven together, these treatment modalities will help you achieve healthy and mindful self-awareness so you are empowered with skills and tools to navigate the tough times with ease.

Efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)

Mindful awareness is the foundation of our programs and services here at Flourish. Mindfulness can be summed up as the practice and state of being aware of our thoughts, experiences, and emotions even if they are uncomfortable. We like to say acceptance is the ‘crown jewel’ of mindfulness, as it encourages acceptance of self, incidences, and relationships as-is, without attaching value judgments to our thoughts.

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is a powerful therapeutic tool that can be successfully applied to the treatment of depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, ADHD, and more.

MBCT uses these mindfulness benefits to improve mental health:

  • It helps you differentiate thoughts from emotions, which in turn can shift your relationship towards what you are feeling rather than what you are thinking

  • It emphasizes the ability to process emotions and experiences as they are, not how we want them to be 

  • Provides coping skills so you can choose how to respond to distress, low moods, and anxiety.

There is proof that MBCT reduces the risk of depressive relapse and demonstrates comparable efficacy to antidepressant medication.

References

"Facts & Statistics | Anxiety and Depression Association of ...." https://adaa.org/about-adaa/press-room/facts-statistics.

"Mental Health - Household Pulse Survey - COVID-19 - CDC." https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/covid19/pulse/mental-health.htm.

"Adult Utilization of Psychiatric Drugs and Differences by Sex ...." 12 Dec. 2016, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2592697.

"Quick Facts and Statistics About Mental Health | Mental Health ...." https://www.mhanational.org/mentalhealthfacts.

"Time Allocation in Primary Care Office Visits - NCBI." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2254573/.

"Efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy in ... - NCBI." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6640038/. Accessed 9 Oct. 2020.