How can you tell if a person has anxiety or depression issues vs just being stressed out?

Answer 1

Wow, there's a lot of ignorant people on here (not you, the folks who answered with apparently no real knowledge or experience).

The symptoms for being stressed out, depressed, or have anxiety can be similar, but the circumstances and the length of time, and the will probably be your best way of telling if it's "serious" or not.

With all three, a certain amount of that wanting-to-pull-your-hair-out feeling is to be expected. However, being stressed out on a nice, normal, annoying level usually coincides with something in your life causing extra stress. Moves, exams, new jobs (or jobs with deadlines), wedding/marriage, finance problems, pregnancy and birth, a child going through the terrible threes (I change it because "two" was never a problem in our house... "threes" on the other hand........ OY!), basically any situation that is temporary or can be changed, after which the stress lifts some, is probably merely stress. Also, stress will respond to fix-its like a night alone, a bubble bath, taking a nap, having a glass of wine, getting a pedicure, or any of the thousands of simple things people do to try to relax themselves. A lot of the time, we get stressed because we fail to take these little moments to relax, so they're a good thing to try first.

If that feeling is persistant or unrelated to any stress-factors in your life that would warrant it, you may want to look into something deeper going on.

I know very little about anxiety as an illness, other than that it cannot be reasoned away (my sister's mother-in-law has anxiety, and she's scared or stressed when she's alone... no amount of trying to convince her that having my 3-year-old nephew over for the night will probably not be a reasonable way to combat the burgler she's convinced is coming to her home can calm her down).

I have depression. I've had it for years. It is persistant, even during times when I know I should be less, not more, stressed. My signs of it aren't that I'm constantly in tears or that I want to physically harm myself. When I'm not on my medication, I feel like I'm kind of floating through life. Months can pass, and I know what's going on, I'm living day to day, going to work, all the stuff I'm supposed to do, but I can't recall all that much that has occurred. Also, when I'm not on my meds, my eating and sleep patterns change drastically. I stay up too late and get up too early. I have to take sleeping pills to get any rest. I don't eat healthy, and I don't eat often, but I drink a lot of sodas and coffee, to get caffienne to combat the lack of sleep. My personal hygeine slips, with 2 or more days passing between showers, I don't bother to fix my hair so I wear it in a ponytail every day, I brush my teeth maybe once a day as opposed to the three times a day I otherwise know I need to. I don't do the things I otherwise enjoy, so books go unread, holidays and birthdays go unscrapbooked, meals go uncooked, movies go unwatched. I get irritable. I'll really believe something is wrong, but I can't put my finger on what it is.

The best way to tell the difference is to compare behavior now to behavior before.

If there have been changes in sleep, eating, hygeine, hobbies; if once you were really a people-person and now you stay home and never return phone calls; if you're irritable or sad for no real reason (usually if you have clinical depression, those feelings are persistant and real, but you may not know why you feel them), then you should see your physician or mental health professional.

Remember, it's the changes that are important. If you've never fussed about your appearance, not taking the time to "fix up" means nothing. If you've always been a homebody, not liking to go out, having less than a vibrant social life is not a change.

If any of these changes last for more than two weeks (I usually consider a little longer, since certain normal stress factors can last longer than that, so I would normally say a month), and if they can't be temporarily or entirely alleviated by the normal relaxation techniques, you may have depression, and you should talk to your doctor.

Regardless, during your next appointment with your doctor, I would mention this. He or she may be able to work with you to control symptoms or circumstances, even for normal times of heavy stress.

I have a little disclaimer down there, but also, I want to mention, if your "stress factor" is a baby or small children, call a friend or loved one whom you trust. There was a day when my youngest was a baby and my oldest was in the clutches of toddler terrorism, and I had to put them in their crib/playpen and run next door to a neighbor, who came over to watch the boys while I sat outside for a few minutes. If you have a baby who is crying uncontrollably and you're having trouble coping, make sure he/she is fed, burped and clean, then put the baby in a safe place (a crib with no pillows or other dangers) and step outside the door for a few minutes. Crying will not hurt the baby. An uncontrolled reaction by an adult definately could. I mention this because studies show that the sound of a baby crying is THE most stressful thing an adult can cope with. Also, most people hear the line "if you feel like hurting yourself or others" and imagine an Andrea Yates-like meltdown. Much more common is Shaken Baby Syndrome, which can be the result of an unplanned and unintended split second violent shake just to quiet the child.

Best of luck to you!

Answer 2

There is a big difference between begin stressed and anxiety or depression.

First clinical depression is very serious. A person has the following symptoms; has no ambition, crys a lot, does not take care of personal hygeine, gains or loses weight, sighs a lot, and may have suicidial thoughts. This requires intervention by a counselor that can prescribe antidepressants (for a period of time and then slowly taken off) and talk therapy.

Anxiety is different in that the person feels as if they will die because of their fears in a situation. For example; they have a fear of flying and when they anticipate a trip, they become paniced. This manifests in sweating, nausea, vomiting, wringing of hands, accelerated pulse rate, etc. They may think they will have a heart attack from their symtoms because they can be so intense. This needs intervention by a professional too if they symptoms interfere with the persons life to the point it is hindering the quality of it.

Stress has other symptoms. People can get moody, be fatigued all the time, eat a lot, turn to drugs or alcohol, etc. They also may exhibit situational depressive signs (sort of a light depression, milder symptoms) or mild symptoms of anxiety too. But not nearly as noticable as the intense feelings of someone who really has a problem.

Answer 3

In my opinion, you can get over stress when the tides change- most of the time stressors in life may ebb and flow. However, if you have true anxiety or depression, it doesn't matter what the life situation is, the you cope with everything in the same way. This behavior lasts for a while, longer than six months. Now one of the caveats is that if a person doesn't learn how to cope with stressors, it can turn into anxiety or depression.

Answer 4

According to the Medline Plus Encyclopedia from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Stress can lead to depression if it is not relieved or treated. It isn't an either/or - it's a progression that needs intervention if it begins to interfere with your life.

The NIH definition for Stress is:

Stress can come from any situation or thought that makes you feel frustrated, angry, or anxious. What is stressful to one person is not necessarily stressful to another.

Stress is a normal part of life. In small quantities, stress is good -- it can motivate you and help you be more productive. However, too much stress, or a strong response to stress, is harmful. It can set you up for general poor health as well as specific physical or psychological illnesses like infection, heart disease, or depression. Persistent and unrelenting stress often leads to anxiety and unhealthy behaviors like overeating and abuse of alcohol or drugs.

Answer 5

Have 'the person' checked out by a doctor. Depression has physical effects and symptoms.
Depression, anxiety, and stress are all in the cycle.
See the doctor NOW.

Answer 6

Well anxiety or depression issues are just symptoms of being stressed out. You are wondering if this is a long term problem or just temporary/ He would have to be diagnosed for that kind of conclusion.

Answer 7

They are somewhat similar.

However, you can check various medical websites for exact definitions of anxiety and depression. The manual used in the US to diagnose is called DSM-4 and that has an exact definition of the two illnesses.

For each illness in DSM-4, there is listed the length of time for which the symptoms must have existed and there is a symptom list for you to review. The book will indicate the minimum number of symptoms you should have in order to meet the criteria for diagnosis. DSM-4 is used by professionals for diagnosis, but it can provide interesting insights to lay people as well.

Answer 8

stressed out is a different thing if a person is stressed out the symptoms of sadness he will show will be only temporary but in depression the person stay depressed parmanently stressed out person only bahave badly for hour or 2 but a depressed person act like that for years and years...now if you wanna know that someone is stressed out or depressed observe him for a 1 or 2 days...if you see that the person is sad temporary and hes fine on other day that means hes stressed out But if the person is sad for more than 2 or 3 days and hes depressed...

Answer 9

anxiety and depression are ongoing problems. being stressed out is a situational problem. a person who's anxious or depressed will be that way in many situations. a person who's just stressed out will be that way for a little while in a particular situation.

that's why they say you have depression if it's ongoing for X number of weeks

Answer 10

depession is more the person changes from their personality, their hygeine, their level of stamina during the day, thoughts of being usless or thoughts of death, anxiety usually you get nervous cant sit still dont sleep well at all and if severe you have attacks that feel like a heart attack. stressed you might be moody a couple days a month or be snappy with those you love but on average still function normally