Is it Anxiety, Depression or Something Else?

Anxiety

Symptoms of Anxiety can be:

Physical: palpitations, muscle tension, nausea, fatigue, headaches, irritability, restlessness, trouble sleeping, diarrhea

Psychological: worrying about lots of different things, feeling "on edge," trouble relaxing, feeling like something bad is going to happen, trouble focusing, difficulty making decisions, focusing on negative outcomes, avoiding people, tasks or situation that cause distress, perfectionism, people pleasing

In children, it can also be: seeking reassurance, taking a long time to do tasks, poor self confidence, avoiding social situations.

Depression

Depression has two main symptoms: an overwhelming sense of sadness or a loss of interest in things a person usually enjoys. In order to be diagnosed with depression, one of these two symptoms must be experienced.

Along with those symptoms, a person might also experience: change in appetite (decrease or increase), change in sleep patterns (decrease or increase), either lack of muscle movement (feeling like you're slogging through peanut butter to get anything done) or agitation (feeling like you have to keep moving), fatigue, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, recurrent thoughts of death (with or without thoughts of harming oneself), difficult concentrating or making decisions.

In young children, depression may show up as worry about parents dying, school refusal, and anxiety being away from parents.

In teenagers, depression may present with irritability and behavior problems.

Trauma

PTSD is a disruption in expected coping after a traumatic event. It usually occurs because our sense of safety and the ability to trust ourselves, others or the world has been affected by the traumatic event.

PTSD symptoms can begin after any event where a person is exposed to death, serious injury, or sexual violence, or the threat of one of these events, even if physical harm did not actually occur. This could be by directly experiencing the event, watching it happen to another person, hearing about it happening to a loved one, or repeated exposure to these events (such as with first responders).

PTSD has several types of symptoms:

Intrusion: recurrent memories or dreams of the event, flashbacks, psychological distress if reminded of the event, physiological reactions if reminded of the event by external triggers (sight, sound, smell, touch, etc)

Avoidance: Avoidance or efforts to avoid distressing memories or thoughts, or efforts to avoid external triggers such as people, places, events, activities, objects, or situations that remind the person of the event.

Changes in Thinking Patterns or Mood: negative beliefs about oneself, blaming self for the event, negative emotional states (guilt, fear, horror, shame), diminished interest or participation in significant activities, feeling detached from others, difficulty experiencing positive emotions, difficulty remembering important parts of the event.

Other symptoms related to reactions or startle: irritable behavior, angry outbursts, reckless or self destructive behavior, hypervigilance, exaggerated startle response, difficulty concentrating, sleep disturbance.

For PTSD, these symptoms have to last more than a month.

Relationship Problems

Relationship counseling is all about focusing on both partners in the relationship. Sometimes couples go to counseling because they're dealing with big issues like cheating or major conflicts. But a lot of the time, people seek counseling to make their relationship even better. Just like taking care of your car keeps it running smoothly, working on communication and learning to love each other well can make a big difference in the long run.

It's best not to wait too long before seeking help. If something, big or small, is getting in the way of feeling connected to your partner, counseling can help keep you both close and prevent problems from getting worse.

Remember, the counselor isn't there to take sides. Instead, they’ll look at how each of you interacts and offer tips on how to improve your dynamic. Many couples find that counseling helps them feel more connected and strengthens their commitment to each other and the relationship.