"Do I have Anxiety or Depression?"

Shezlina Haji
2 days ago
5 min read

Updated: 1 day ago

If you’ve ever wondered, “Do I have anxiety or depression?” you are not alone. In my work as a therapist, this is one of the most common questions I hear. Many people come into therapy trying to figure out which mental health condition they are dealing with, only to realize that the line between anxiety and depression is not always clear.

The truth is, anxiety and depression often overlap. They feed into each other. One can lead to the other, and many people experience both at the same time. That is why it can feel confusing to understand what is happening internally.

In therapy, I often see anxiety and depression showing up together in ways that are hard to separate. Constant fear and worry can become emotionally exhausting over time, while ongoing sadness and hopelessness can create fear about the future, relationships, work, and daily life.

What Anxiety Often Feels Like

Anxiety is more than occasional stress or nervousness. We all experience feelings of anxiety from time to time, especially during uncertainty or major life changes. But anxiety disorders can make daily life feel exhausting and overwhelming.

At the core of anxiety is fear. Fear about what could happen, what might go wrong, or what you may not be able to handle.

Common symptoms of anxiety can include:

Excessive worry
Difficulty concentrating
Feeling constantly on edge
Intense fear around uncertainty
Physical symptoms such as muscle tension, shakiness, racing heart, or restlessness
Panic attacks
Trouble relaxing
Fear of being judged, criticized, or rejected
Avoiding situations that feel unpredictable or uncomfortable

For some people, anxiety shows up socially, where interactions with others feel deeply stressful. For others, it may look more like panic attacks or phobias, or show up more generally such as with generalized anxiety disorder where the mind worries about many different areas of life at once.

One of the hardest parts about anxiety is that low-likelihood fears can start to feel highly probable. Your mind begins preparing for worst-case scenarios as though they are the most realistic outcomes. You may constantly analyze situations, overthink conversations, or try to predict every possible outcome in an effort to feel safe.

But living in that constant state of alertness is draining.

It becomes difficult to focus at work, trust people in relationships, make decisions confidently, or enjoy the present moment. Even simple tasks can start to feel heavy when your nervous system rarely gets a chance to rest.

To learn more about anxiety, have a look at my 3-Part Series on Understanding Anxiety: What is Anxiety, How Therapy Can Help, and Practical Coping Strategies for Anxiety.

How Anxiety Can Lead to Depression

When someone lives with chronic fear and stress for a long time, it often creates emotional exhaustion.

At some point, many people begin asking themselves:

“What if this is how I’ll always feel?”

“What if I never get the life I want?”

“What if I never feel calm, connected, or fulfilled?”

This is often where symptoms of depression begin to emerge.

Depression is not just sadness. It is often a deep sense of heaviness, hopelessness, emptiness, or disconnection from yourself and your life. Long standing depression may turn into major depressive disorder, or what used to be know as clinical depression.

Common symptoms of depression can include:

Low mood
Feelings of sadness
Loss of interest in things you once enjoyed
Low motivation or low energy
Feelings of worthlessness
Difficulty concentrating
Isolation and loneliness
Feelings of hopelessness
Negative thoughts about yourself or the future
Changes in sleep or appetite
Thoughts of death or feeling like life is too hard

When life feels scary all the time, it becomes harder to keep showing up for it. The constant emotional and physical symptoms of anxiety can leave people depleted. Many begin avoiding risks, opportunities, relationships, or decisions because everything feels overwhelming.

Eventually, this can create a painful sense of loss.

Loss of connection.

Loss of confidence.

Loss of joy.

Loss of the life you imagined for yourself.

And loss is a major part of depression.

Sometimes people become so overwhelmed by anxiety that they freeze entirely. Decision-making becomes difficult. Motivation drops. The exhaustion becomes both emotional and physical. This is one reason anxiety and depression so commonly occur together.

How Depression Can Also Turn Into Anxiety

The relationship works both ways.

This is why anxiety and depression so commonly occur together. In therapy, I often see them feeding into one another. Constant fear and worry can gradually lead to hopelessness and low mood, and vice versa.

Someone struggling with depression may initially experience sadness, loneliness, low self-esteem, and withdrawal from life. But over time, those experiences can create fear.

Fear of failure.

Fear of rejection.

Fear of never feeling better.

Fear of not being able to function the way they want to.

A person may start worrying about whether they can maintain relationships, succeed in their career, or feel emotionally connected to others again. Depression symptoms can slowly evolve into symptoms of anxiety.

This is why many mental health disorders are not as separate as they appear on paper. Human emotions are interconnected. Fear can create sadness, and sadness can create fear.

In therapy, I often see anxiety and depression blending together so much that clients cannot clearly separate them. And that is why it makes sense to treat them together.

My Approach as a Therapist

In my work, I do not see anxiety and depression as completely separate boxes. I see them as emotional experiences that are deeply connected.

Rather than focusing only on symptom management, I try to help clients understand what is happening underneath the surface.

Where do your fears come from?

Where did you learn certain beliefs about yourself?

What experiences shaped the way you view relationships, success, safety, or self-worth?

Are you grieving a version of life you thought you would have by now?

Are you constantly comparing your current reality to the life you believe you “should” be living?

These questions matter because mental health conditions are not just about symptoms. They are also about emotional experiences, unmet needs, loss, fear, and the stories we carry about ourselves.

When someone struggles with generalized anxiety disorder, for example, there is often sadness beneath the constant worrying. There can be grief around not feeling free, safe, or fully present in life. Similarly, someone struggling with depression may carry fears about rejection, failure, or being alone. And that is what we focus on in therapy - not the symptoms.

Treatment and Support

There are many treatment options available for anxiety and depression. Depending on the person, support may include psychotherapy, lifestyle changes, support groups, antidepressants, or working with a mental health professional.

Fun fact, we see this overlap chemically too. Many antidepressants, particularly SSRIs, are often prescribed for both anxiety and depression because the two conditions share many underlying biological and emotional patterns. This is part of why people so often experience them together rather than as completely separate struggles.

Sometimes unresolved trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder can also contribute to anxiety and depression symptoms. Other times, chronic stress, isolation, or difficult life experiences play a major role.

No matter how things began, healing is possible.

If you notice warning signs such as persistent low mood, panic attacks, excessive worry, loss of interest in life, or thoughts of death, reaching out for support matters. You do not have to carry it alone.

Whether you are struggling with anxiety, depression, or both, I want you to know this:

Your symptoms make sense in the context of what you have lived through.

You are not weak for struggling.

And you are not beyond help.

With the right support, self-understanding, and care, it is possible to feel more grounded, connected, and hopeful again.

BOOK NOW