My anxiety is getting worse and depression won't let me live my life, how do I overcome this?

There's many things you can start by seeing a therapist and even working here on 7Cups, but it's important to start with this statement. Every morning when you wake up, look in your mirror and say, "My depression and anxiety is not who I am. My depression and anxiety is only temporary and I will overcome this. I will not let my depression and anxiety define me. I am allowed to feel sad and anxious, but I will not feel this way forever." If you say that to yourself three times a day for a week, you might already start seeing results!

I've been dealing with depression for almost eight years, so I know how difficult it is to overcome. In general, taking a good combination of medications and finding a talk therapist whom I really connect with have been key to my feeling better, though it took me a long time to find the right medications and therapist. Having some idea of the root of your anxiety and meditation may help you find a therapist who is a good fit for you; many therapists have short biographies posted on Psychology Today, so that is a good place to start. If you can't or don't feel you want to seek professional help at this time, there are also things you can do to ease the negative feelings, such as practicing mindfulness and meditation. I initially thought meditation wasn't for me, but then I discovered the buddhify app, which has a great variety of meditations for different situations, and it's really starting to click for me. If you find that a certain meditation app or speaker isn't helping you, you can always try another one, because you are unique and what works for other people might not work for you. I also suggest making a list of comfort activities -- small, easy things you can do that may help you feel better in the moment, such as making a cup of tea or coloring in a coloring book. I also suggest eliminating social media as much as possible. I found that Facebook was actually worsening my depression, and I feel a lot better when I restrict myself from using it. Finally, joining a support group, either online or in real life, may help, because you hear a number of different perspectives and may have a greater chance of hearing something that works for you. Overcoming anxiety and depression is not easy, and for most people, there is no "magic bullet" that will fix it, but starting to take small steps, along with getting the proper support, will point you in the right direction. Best of luck to you.

If certain emotions begain to take over your life you should seek medical help. We all have these emotions but when they get out of hand it can be dangerous

This happens because you allow your mind to have the energy to think negatively about everything that can cause your status. to overcome this, you should start distracting your mind into something you've never done before. like Traveling, exercising, learning new language/hobby.

You are depressed ? Depression is a state of mind where you don't want to do anything and anxiety is a feeling of something with unknown outcome !! Best solution to of them at the same time - DO THE THINGS YOU *FEAR*.... The feeling of happiness you get when You do something you fear is very immense... This kills your anxiety and pulls you out of the depression..

Visit with a therapist. Start making short term goals that you can accomplish. Whenever you accomplish what you've set out to do give yourself recognition. Set long term goals and work towards them at a realistic pace.

I always find that breaking everything down into little steps is very important. Depression can be so overwhelming, and anxiety that sometimes we just shut down all together at the thought of having to 'live normally' give yourself time. Take baby steps. Start by getting in the shower, taking care of yourself a little more. Even if it just means putting moisturiser on, and having a good look at yourself in the mirror. Write something down every day that you are grateful for, try and go for a walk each day. When you feel bouts of anxiety, remember to breathe. I think the only way to start to overcome these two really difficult conditions is to have compassion towards yourself. Treat yourself like a friend, heal yourself. Beating yourself up about it will have the opposite affect. you don't have to love yourself yet, but have sympathy and care for yourself, thats the only way forward.

Fill your schedule with things you like to do and social events with friends and family. This will help distract yourself from the negative thoughts and possible loneliness that are causing the depression and soothe your anxiety by doing something positive and even relaxing.

If it's that bad try talking to your doctor and get medication, or talk to a thearapist and get help from your own space. Whatever you do, it will be okay in the end. I promise

You overcome your depression by first going to see an counselor and psychiatrist. You can get therapy and talk about what's on your mind and the psychiatrist can prescribe you medications. You can also take deep breaths, write in journals, listen to soft music, pray and meditate to help you with the process of healing.

Breath and relax. Do some meditation like yoga and push ourself to do outside activites like jogging or even just smilling at neighbour. It can rebuild our self esteem

Have you considered a psychologist, or maybe even a psychiatrist. Some people need medication to reduce anxiety and depression, and that is perfectly okay. You can also eat a healthy diet, and exercise.

As soon as you will start living your life for yourself instead for others you will be at a better place.

Recovery can be a very slow and almost painful process, and it involves taking so many steps and making so many life changes. It would be wrong of me to say what you should do, but there's many resources and self-help guides on here and around the internet so that you can put together ways to help you cope and eventually get better :)

everyday try and find ten positive things that you have noticed, or done yourself. this worked for me

First, you have my sympathy... depression and anxiety absolutely suck! Second, you'll hopefully be encouraged to know that there are lots and lots and lots of things you can do that can help. Depression can have its root cause in a lot of different things. Hormonal changes, diet, life circumstances, trauma, infection, allergies, sleep, light exposure, pregnancy, stress, vitamin deficiencies.... all these things and many more have the potential to make us more vulnerable to episodes of depression. Exposing the one or more underlying causes helps immensely in working out a plan for recovery.... however you may imagine yourself that you can start to work on becoming a detective and investigating these yourself :) Do you have a routine? Do you wake up and get up at roughly the same time each day? Do you get out in the sunlight for some time each day? Do you have a job to go to? Do you find your work meaningful? Do you experience overwhelming stress anywhere in your life? Do you have friends? Do you have family? Do you have a partner and a plan for your future? These could form some starter questions to help you start to investigate where this might be coming from if it is based in the nature of your day to day. Often the GP will do some blood tests to look for thyroid function, vitamin d deficiency, low iron etc etc... all potentials for low mood. Consider taking a look at your diet, are you consuming a lot of sugar and gluten? These have links to depression. Are you getting the right balanced diet to support the production of serotonin in the brain? Do you get quality sleep? Do you need to exercise in the day to improve your sleep at night? Is the room you sleep in dark enough, are there any blue lights in the room? Is your home environment moldy at all? Mold exposure has been linked to depression. Air filtering can improve this. Are you drinking enough water? Dehydration can cause issues in some people. What about your thinking? Do you find your thoughts help you or hinder you? Therapies like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Eye movement therapies like EMDR, talk therapies, hypnosis, mindfulness based techniques etc can really help the formation of more helpful neural thinking pathways that can free you from the quagmire of persistent intrusive negative thinking. These are some things to maybe consider. For anxiety there are as many options too... heart rate variability training (emwave2), exposure therapies, confidence exercises etc... there are a lot of options. There are many good mental health sites which have further details on the options. Believing you can recover and develop emotional resilience is the first step, coming up with a plan which you can revise as you go is the 2nd step and too many people have been through it and recovered for anyone to believe it isn't possible. I honestly wish you find everything useful as you proceed on your healing journey, but take what works for you, leave what doesn't and know that healing is possible. This is only your life as it is today, you can work to build the life you want. :)

I would suggest you to seek professional help because it did help me get better when I felt like I was at the brink.

preofessional help. it wont work right away, and you need to find the right things that help you. start with family doctor or counselor, then go from there.

I think you should seek help if it's that serious, you can't just ignore it..I've been there and I too thought I won't need help but the moment I had it everything changed for the better

Have you tried consulting a professional regarding the difficult times you're facing on your own now?

Anxiety is a difficult thing to deal with and depending on its severity it can affect you throughout your days. There are often good days and bad days with people suffering from anxiety. This is similar with depression. Both conditions combined can make it even harder. I don't know if you are professionally diagnosed but if you aren't it's important to get this diagnosis. If you are there is help such as therapy out there. If this isn't an option, sport, a support network and doing things you enjoy can be a platform for you to improve your mental health.

Give yourself time for self care and do things to take care of yourself first. It can be anything from eating better, going to the gym, doing some yoga, anything that takes effort and makes you feel better afterwards. Additionally, seeing a therapist or psychiatrist can help you get more specialized or medication. Depression and anxiety are terrible diseases but they are also treatable illnesses. The problem is you have to take the first step for yourself and reach out to resources around you in order to get better. Just starting with basic self care can be a great start towards building yourself up as a person.

Overcoming both anxiety and depression is a very difficult struggle, and the path to recovery from both will be long, but its possible. At times the two of these things go hand in hand, and make overcoming each one more difficult, but if you tackle each problem, one that tends to hinder you more, step by step, you can reclaim your life, and you can reclaim your hobbies again, each is a process, but after finding the coping methods that work for you, and putting them into action when you need to, you can get yourself out of that struggle, and you can bring yourself to say, I did it, I beat my anxiety and depression, and don't fret if you relapse, relapses happen, just get back up on your feet, and try again, you got this, believe in your ability to get better and you will because the effort you put forth is the output you will receive in recovery. :D

Find support systems in your life such as family and friends who will understand and be there for you, also seeking professional help might be beneficial

Give yourself 1 hour. Sit by yourself and go over the things that are happening to you. Look from the outside and See yourself As this person who is going through this emotional roller cluster. What would you tell this person? Be kind, be realistic, be firm, be impartial and most importantly , be patient As you speak to yourself.

Depression and anxiety are really difficult to deal with and are things I continue to struggle with. I know that finding a therapist I trusted and could open up to really helped, and she was able to help me find a psychiatrist who evaluated me for meds. Those made it more manageable, but doing things I really enjoyed made me feel better as well, especially getting outdoors to do things like hike. I wish you the very best and hope this helps!

Focus on the happy things in life, no matter how small they are. I promise that it gets better after that.

It is best to talk about this to someone you trust. You may also can try writing it out. Letting things out

if it's possible for you, i highly encourage you to seek professional help. but, i understand that that's not a viable solution for everyone, so resources like 7 cups are a great place to start! if you can talk to a doctor (if that's possible), or a close friend/parent/sibling/relative that you trust, those are also great ways to help. also, while the internet can be unreliable at times, it's a great resource where you can find lots of support systems and potential resources for how to cope. but above all, try to get the help you need and deserve

the fact that someone suffers from anxiety or anxiety attacks and at the same time, depression, is quite common in cases of mental health and well being. i would first seek the help of a primary care physician, who would then recommend to you the care of a psychiatrist and/or a therapist. overcoming anxiety and depression starts with acceptance - please say to yourself, "i suffer from mental illness and i know that i need to admit that i should seek help." mental illness starts with chemical imbalances in the brain that, when untreated, lead to the patient suffering from emotional pain and anguish. if you have anxiety or depression, please speak to your health professionals for the help you deserve!!!