This question was raised in a book I am currently reading titled “Lost Connections” by Johann Hari (2018). In addition to many surprising insights about what really causes depression, he asserts that anxiety and depression typically co-occur in many individuals. Think about it: if you had severe, debilitating anxiety, wouldn’t that make you depressed? Or, if you have clinical depression, couldn’t this cause anxiety about everyday activities such as driving to work or grocery shopping? Hari states: “everything that causes an increase in depression also causes an increase in anxiety, and the other way around. They rise and fall together” (p. 12). Could this be correct?
In an editor’s note in the May 2020 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, Kalin cited research indicating that “45.7 % of individuals with lifetime major depressive disorder had a lifetime history of one or more anxiety disorders” (p. 365). He adds, “From the perspective of anxiety disorders, the lifetime comorbidity with depression is estimated to range from 20% to 70% for patients with social anxiety disorder (6), 50% for patients with panic disorder (6), 48% for patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (7), and 43% for patients with generalized anxiety disorder” (p. 365). Results from the STAR*D study found that as many as 53% of depressed patients also suffered from significant anxiety.
In light of this research evidence, are modern treatments targeting both anxiety and depression?
Citations:
Hari, J. (2018). Lost connections. Bloomsbury.
Kalin, N. H. (2020). The critical relationship between anxiety and depression. American Journal of Psychiatry, 177(5), 365-367.
©Jennie Dilworth, Ph.D