Depression; Feeling Depressed; Low Mood Anxiety Symptoms

Causes: Why anxiety can cause depression

There are several ways anxiety can cause or play a role in feeling depressed and emotionally “low”:

1. Stress, including anxiety-caused stress

A. The stress response

Anxious behavior activates the stress response, causing many body-wide changes that give the body an emergency “boost” of energy and resources when we believe we could be in danger. This survival reaction is often referred to as the fight or flight response.[1][2]

Visit the “Stress Response” article for more information about the many changes it causes.

Since the stress response pushes the body beyond its balance point, stress responses stress the body. As such, anxious behavior stresses the body.

A body that becomes stressed can exhibit symptoms of stress, including feeling depressed and emotionally “low.”

Moreover, stress suppresses the feel-good chemicals, such as dopamine and serotonin, and the brain’s pleasure centers. Their reduction can make it difficult to experience pleasure, happiness, joy, and contentment.[3][4]

Stress is a common cause of feeling depressed and emotionally “low.”[5][6][7][8]

B. Hyperstimulation

Frequently activating the stress response, such as from overly anxious behavior, can leave the body in a state of semi-stress-response-readiness, which we call “stress-response hyperstimulation” since stress hormones are powerful stimulants.

Hyperstimulation is also often referred to as “hyperarousal,” “HPA axis dysfunction,” or “nervous system dysregulation.”[9][10]

Hyperstimulation can cause the changes of an active stress response even though a stress response hasn’t been activated.

Visit our “Hyperstimulation” article for more information about the many ways hyperstimulation can affect the body and how we feel.

Overly apprehensive behavior is a common cause of hyperstimulation, and hyperstimulation is a common cause of feeling depressed, emotionally “low” or “blah,” and a psychological and emotional “darkness.”[5][6][7][8]

Hyperstimulation is often a cause of persistent depression.

C. The Let-Down Effect

When you’ve been under sustained stress, and that stress finally comes to an end, you can experience a “Let-Down Effect” as stress hormone levels fall. The “Let-Down Effect” – a period of low physical and mental energy – often occurs as part of the recovery process.

Many people experience a “Let-Down Effect” after a chronic stressor has ended and recovery begins.

This is common and needn’t be a cause for concern.

Recovery Support members can read the article "The Let-Down Effect" in Chapter 14 for more information.

D. Fatigue/Exhaustion

Fatigue/exhaustion has also been linked to feeling depressed and emotionally “low.”[11]

Since stress taxes the body’s energy resources harder and faster than normal, chronic stress (hyperstimulation) can lead to fatigue. Fatigue can cause feelings of being depressed and emotionally “low.”

Moreover, when the body isn’t hyperstimulated, the stress response can elicit a dramatic physiological, psychological, and emotional effect because of how stress hormones affect the body.

However, when the body is chronically stressed (hyperstimulated), the effects of the stress response can become blunted,[12][[13] causing a reduction in cortisol production and a muted reaction to cortisol.[14]

The overall effect of the “blunting” and “muting” can be fatigue and a reduced ability to feel “excited,” including emotionally.

Chronic stress-caused fatigue/exhaustion is a common cause of feeling depressed and emotionally “low.”

E. Depression stresses the body

Research has found that feeling depressed also stresses the body.[6]

For instance, we create the physiological, psychological, and emotional state of anxiety when we behave apprehensively. As mentioned, anxiety stresses the body.

Pessimistic behavior creates the physiological, psychological, and emotional state of depression. Depression also stresses the body by increasing stress hormone secretion.[6]

Chronic stress has a deleterious effect on the body. As depressive behavior increases, the body’s level of stress increases.

Just as we can set up a negative cycle with anxiety (anxiety ➛ stress ➛ symptoms ➛ anxiety ➛ stress ➛ symptoms), we can also set up a negative cycle with depression (pessimism ➛ stress ➛ feeling depressed ➛ pessimism ➛ stress ➛ feeling more depressed ➛ etc.).

We can also set up a dual fueling cycle when apprehensive and pessimistic behaviors are combined (anxiety ➛ stress ➛ symptoms ➛ feeling depressed ➛ anxiety ➛ depression ➛ stress ➛ more symptoms including depression ➛ worrying about anxiety and depression ➛ stress ➛ more symptoms ➛ and so on).

Chronic depression is a common cause of elevated stress, which can cause depression to persist.

F. Sleep problems

Stress often causes problems with sleep.[12][13] Sleep problems can also stress the body.

Moreover, the combination of anxiety, feeling depressed, and insomnia can set up a negative cycle where anxiety causes stress, stress causes sleep disruption, sleep disruption causes the feelings of being depressed, feeling depressed stresses the body,[5][6] stress fuels sleep disruption, sleep disruption fuels anxiety/stress/depression, and so on.[7]

Consequently, anxiety, stress, and impaired sleep can contribute to feeling depressed.

Feeling depressed and devoid of emotion are one of the first symptoms associated with sleep disruption since sleep deprivation impacts our emotions first.

Frequent sleep disruption can negatively affect on our emotions, which can cause our emotions to feel flat, blue, and down.

G. Inflammation

Chronic stress also causes issues with chronic inflammation. Anxiety has been linked to inflammation problems, and depression has been linked to chronic inflammation in the brain.[15][16]

H. Fear center stimulation

Chronic stress increases neuronal activity in the amygdala (the fear center of the brain).

Increased fear center activity has been linked to increased fear detection and reactivity and an increase in pessimistic/negative behavior,[17]. All of which can fuel feeling depressed.

2. Depression associated with anxiety disorder recovery

Anxiety disorder sufferers can also experience episodes of depression due to feeling hopeless about anxiety disorder and recovery.

For instance, if a person feels trapped in anxiety disorder, that attitude can be experienced as feeling depressed.

Or, if a person is becoming disillusioned with the time it takes to recover, that can also be experienced as feeling depressed.

Or, if a person thinks their case of anxiety is the worst and there’s no hope for recovery, that attitude can also create feelings of being depressed.

Furthermore, anxiety disorder sufferers can also experience episodes of depression as a part of the last phase of recovery.

For instance, when the body is in the last phase of recovery and stress hormone levels have dropped overall, we can experience a “Let Down Effect,”  as mentioned earlier.

Reduced stress hormone levels can leave a person feeling devoid of energy, low, and depressed since stress hormones perk us up and make us feel “alive.”

Anxiety disorder sufferers in the last phase of recovery often experience this “low” period as the body works its way back to normal, non-hyperstimulated health and energy.

3. Used to living with nervous energy

Many anxious people are so used to feeling energized with stress hormones that a dramatic reduction can feel like they’ve lost their energy and zest for life, including emotional energy.

Feeling pumped up with stress hormones can become a habit. It’s easy, even enjoyable, to be emotionally addicted to the feelings of being upbeat and charged with energy.

Many stressed and anxious people “live” on the adrenalized feeling. Unfortunately, being adrenalized all the time is unhealthy.

Anxiety disorder recovery requires that we slow down and learn to live within the normal range of stimulation.

Examples of hyperstimulated living include routinely rushing around, hurrying to get things done, rapid thinking, fast decisions, super upbeat emotions, strong drive to “get things done,” a burning desire to “accomplish,” feeling indestructible, and so on.

Learning to live at a more relaxed pace requires deliberate effort and is a healthy way to approach life.

Calm, cool, collected, thoughtful, in control, level-headed psychologically and emotionally, and being patient are antidotes to high-energy living.

One approach produces hyperstimulation, and the other doesn’t.

We can still have moments of feeling high energy and upbeat, but they should be balanced with a calmer approach to life.

If you’ve been working at recovery, a dramatic reduction in stimulation can feel like you are heading toward depression. However, if you engage the feelings and recognize it is a part of the recovery experience, you don’t have to reinforce feeling down by adding anxious or pessimistic behavior.

If you ride out feeling depressed as you would any anxiety symptom, you’ll see that it passes in time as the body recovers. It will then be followed by a healthy energy level, causing a rise in emotions and emotional stability.

4. Behavior/Attitude

Anxiety occurs when we behave apprehensively. Worry is an example of apprehensive behavior that creates anxiety.

Just as a type of behavior creates anxiety, a type of behavior can also create feelings of being depressed and emotionally “low.”

For instance, pessimistic behavior – believing things are hopeless, and you’re feeling helpless and trapped – can create feelings of being depressed.

The more frequently we behave pessimistically, the more often we’ll feel depressed.

Pessimistic behavior is a common cause of feeling depressed and emotionally “low.”

Anxiety and depression often co-occur because the underlying factors – those behaviors, situations, and circumstances that motivate anxious and depressive behaviors – are similar but come out in slightly different ways.

While anxiety can cause depressed feelings as a symptom, pessimistic behavior can also cause feelings of depression.

Thoughts cause feelings. But feelings can also influence how we think.

If pessimism becomes an automatic behavior, again, that can set up a negative cycle (pessimistic behavior causes feelings of depression ➛ feelings of depression influences pessimistic behavior ➛ pessimistic behavior causes feelings of depression ➛ and so on).

5. Other Factors

Other factors can create stress and cause anxiety-like symptoms, as well as aggravate existing anxiety symptoms, including:

• Medication
• Recreational drugs
• Stimulants
• Hyper and hypoventilation
• Low blood sugar
• Nutritional deficiencies
• Dehydration
• Hormone changes
• Pain

Select the relevant link for more information.