A Quick Peek At Anxiety and Depression
Depression
Though anxiety is worrying about the future, depression is worrying about the past.
Depressive disorder (depression) is characterized by long periods of lethargy, lack of enthusiasm in activities, and an overall depressed mood. (Depressive Disorder (Depression), 2025)
There are several key players within the brain that add up to depression. For one, decreased metabolism in the prefrontal cortex and deficient prefrontal perfusion has been linked to greater suicidal behaviors (a depressive symptom). The anterior cingulate cortex’s output to the hypothalamus (endocrine/autonomic system involvement, which plays roles in the stress response) makes it interesting in depression studies. In addition, the anterior subdivision of the insula links to disgust, self-reflection, and other such negative states. Greater insular volume has been correlated with depression scores, and during depression the sensitivity of the insula seems to increase (Pandya et al., 2012).
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Image: Jones (2012)
Anxiety
Anxiety is a persistent worry that concerns the future, leading to repeated episodes of dread and uneasiness. Though this may sound similar to fear, there are a few key differences—the most significant of all being that though fear is about the events happening in the present, anxiety is about future events that may or may not occur.
The brain structure that plays the most major role in anxiety is the amygdala, which is a part of the brain’s limbic system—nicknamed the “mammalian brain.” The limbic system is the “emotional center” of the brain, and the amygdala works within this system by playing significant roles in emotional processing as well as memory.
Amygdala memories can work even outside of conscious awareness, taking cues from surroundings during traumatic events to later react to similar stimuli in ways it believes can help protect the person from the trauma. This can lead to the formation of anxiety triggers, with each negative reaction to the trigger only strengthening the neural circuit that controls the cycle (Pittman & Karle, 2016).
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Image: File:Limbic Lobe Hariadhi.svg - Wikimedia Commons (2024)
Conclusion
Due to similarities in symptoms and causes as well as a tightly linked feedback loop between anxiety and depression, these disorders are often comorbid to some degree. Anxiety-induced anticipation of stressful futures can lead to negative thought patterns and exhaustion, leading to the worsening of depression, and depression-induced constant reflection on negative events in the past can lead to fearing those events in the future, increasing anxiety. As such, medication is often recommended where both symptoms can be treated; alleviating one will often treat the other.
Depressive disorder (depression). (2025, August 29). World Health Organization.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression
File:Limbic lobe hariadhi.svg - Wikimedia Commons. (2024, July 3). Wikimedia.org. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Limbic_lobe_hariadhi.svg
Hirschfield, R. M. A. (2001). The Comorbidity of Major Depression and Anxiety Disorders.
The Primary Care Companion to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 03(06), 244–254.
https://doi.org/10.4088/pcc.v03n0609
Jones, J. (2012). Insular cortex | Radiology Reference Article | Radiopaedia.org. Radiopaedia.org.
https://radiopaedia.org/articles/insular-cortex
Pandya, M., Altinay, M., Malone, D. A., & Anand, A. (2012). Where in the Brain Is Depression? Current Psychiatry Reports, 14(6), 634–642.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-012-0322-7
Pittman, C. M., & Karle, E. M. (2016). Rewire your anxious brain: How to use the neuroscience of fear to end anxiety, panic, and worry.
Strawberry Hills, Nsw] Readhowyouwant.
Introduction
When a person is diagnosed with anxiety, the same person is more often than not also diagnosed with depression. This is because in most situations, depression is a natural consequence of anxiety. As anxiety is focused on the fear of situations that have yet to happen, prolonged periods of anxiety will ultimately sap the motivation of the individual, as the individual is constantly hyper attentive regarding threats, whether they are real or not. This leads into depression, which itself can cause more negative thinking patterns and scenarios to happen, leading to increased anxiety in a feedback loop that worsens with each cycle.
Ways they can show up in people/common behaviors
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Self-isolation
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Difficulty concentrating
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Negative thought patterns
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Irritability
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Unexplained physical pains (psychosomatic symptoms)
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Difficulty sleeping (insomnia) (Hirschfield, 2001)
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Changes in appetite (Hirschfield, 2001)
Triggered by similar factors:
“Put another way, the presence of an anxiety disorder is the single biggest clinical risk for the development of depression. A common scenario appears to be the following: exposure to significant life stressors such as interpersonal conflict, some type of personal loss, or some type of life threat leads to clinical levels of anxiety” (Hirschfield, 2001).