> Forgive my ignorance and bluntness, but reading the above, it sounds more like an anxiety disorder than like depression. Both are serious, but I'm not sure if it helps to confuse the two?
I disagree.
It could easily be case of chronic significant stress/anxiety that lead to depression. It happens a lot. Tons of reputable articles on it:
The reason why I say that it probably isn't just anxiety was this statement in particular from the story (and there are others):
> Depressed Rand is weird. Don’t get me wrong, regular Rand is weird, too. But depressed Rand magnifies the bad 10X and minimizes the good. He refuses to even acknowledge good news and, because he’s a pretty smart guy, he can usually argue for why that good news is actually just temporary and will turn to shit any minute. The weird part is, I think depressed Rand is actually a very authentic version of myself. When I felt depressed, I upheld TAGFEE – particularly the values of transparency and authenticity – as the reasons why I could and should be such a raging, all-consuming, negative naysayer.
Don't make the mistake of thinking that an anxiety disorder is trivial or that gp parent comment was trivialising something as "just anxiety", as being less than depression.
Sorry about that. I am not trying to minimize anxiety with that phrasing, but rather trying to stress that the situation was more complex than -- just one thing --.
My concern is that you are mixing together the definitions of anxiety and depression so that there is no difference between them, but they are in fact different things. Anxiety is generally does not consist of a feeling of constant doom/dread, but rather a feeling of anxiety/nervousness (which is a type of excitability, shortness of breath, tightness, flight or flight response, etc.)
Anxiety is more in the moment (whether that trigger is drugs/caffiene, or a situation that provokes it), where as depression is a constant (you wake up with it and it stays with you all day.)
It is useful to think of anxiety as a form of excitability (which provokes action, or at least that is the psychology point of anxiety), whereas depression is sort of the opposite (it reduces motivation for action.)
The "doom/dread" spoken of is not the doom/dread you are associating it with. Anxiety disorder (regular panic attacks) absolutely comes with a sudden feeling of impending doom/dread. That is its most characteristic trait!
Sufferers of panic disorder sometimes feel so convinced they are going to die imminently they end up in the emergency room, only to be told there is nothing physically wrong and that they are suffering a panic attack.
And generalised anxiety can result in a fairly consistent state of anxiety about things with a vague sense of impending doom.
I agree panic attacks are not a constant feeling of doom/dread. They have a sudden onset and usually pass within minutes (though can reoccur regularly for hours or longer when unmanaged). This can then be followed by a constant jitteriness, even shaking, feeling weak and feeling anxious for days or even weeks following a bad attack.
Also, anxiety attacks are not necessarily triggered by drugs/caffeine or a trigger situation. They can occur completely randomly when perfectly calm and relaxed and not thinking about anything in particular.
I also agree anxiety is very distinct from depression. But the two often occur together.
I disagree.
It could easily be case of chronic significant stress/anxiety that lead to depression. It happens a lot. Tons of reputable articles on it:
http://www.webmd.com/depression/features/stress-depression
The reason why I say that it probably isn't just anxiety was this statement in particular from the story (and there are others):
> Depressed Rand is weird. Don’t get me wrong, regular Rand is weird, too. But depressed Rand magnifies the bad 10X and minimizes the good. He refuses to even acknowledge good news and, because he’s a pretty smart guy, he can usually argue for why that good news is actually just temporary and will turn to shit any minute. The weird part is, I think depressed Rand is actually a very authentic version of myself. When I felt depressed, I upheld TAGFEE – particularly the values of transparency and authenticity – as the reasons why I could and should be such a raging, all-consuming, negative naysayer.