Are Anxiety and Depression the Same Thing?
Short answer? No. But they do have a lot in common and it’s no surprise people often experience them together.
Two Storms in the Same Sky
Anxiety and depression are like two different kinds of weather. One feels like a constant wind of worry, your thoughts racing ahead, always bracing for what might go wrong, or what is perceived as going wrong. The other feels more like a persistent darkness, hard to move through, hard to care, hard to feel much at all.
Both can affect your sleep, energy, appetite, confidence, relationships, and sense of meaning.
But they come from different directions and speak in different voices.
Anxiety says: “Something bad is happening, or is about to happen.”
Depression says: “Nothing good is ever going to happen.”
And when they show up together (which is common), they can keep you stuck in a loop: You worry constantly, feel hopeless about it, then worry that you’ll never feel better.
How Are They Different?
Here’s a simple breakdown:
Anxiety:
Racing thoughts
Restless energy, agitation
Overthinking, worst-case scenarios
Muscle tension, panic, insomnia
Fear of the future
Depression:
Slowed-down thinking
Low energy, fatigue
Lack of motivation or interest
Heaviness, sadness, withdrawal
Feeling hopeless about the future
In short: anxiety is fear-driven. Depression is meaning-driven.
What Causes Them?
They can come from similar places: stress, trauma, past experiences, or even chronic exhaustion. But in many cases, depression arises from unmet emotional needs, a lack of meaning, connection, or fulfilment. Anxiety, on the other hand, is often a negative use of the imagination, a way of 'filling in the blanks' about the unknowns of life, projecting worst-case scenarios into the future. Sometimes one leads to the other - prolonged anxiety can wear you down into depression, and being depressed can make you anxious about not being able to 'snap out of it.'
But remember: these are not permanent conditions. They are natural responses, signals from a system that’s overwhelmed and out of balance.
So What Helps?
Trying to “think your way out of it” rarely works because these patterns run deeper than logic. They’re held in the body, in the nervous system, in the unconscious mind.
That’s where approaches like hypnotherapy come in.
With hypnotherapy, we don’t just treat symptoms. We work with the root cause, guiding you to understand the part of you that’s anxious, sad, scared, or stuck. We help that part feel safe again, heard, supported. We encourage you to use your imagination differently, not to escape reality, but to create a new one - one where you can solve life’s problems with confidence and take on life’s challenges with resilience.
Online Hypnotherapy: Support From Anywhere
One of the beautiful things about hypnotherapy is that it works just as well online as in person. Evergreen Hypnotherapy is based in Brighton, East Sussex, however we also offer sessions via Zoom, meaning you can begin your healing journey from the comfort and safety of your own space.
In each session, we’ll talk through what you’re experiencing and how anxiety or depression show up in your daily life. Then, using a combination of proven therapeutic techniques, we’ll start shifting how you think, how you feel, and how you respond to the world around you.
Together, we’ll work to meet your fundamental human needs: safety, connection, meaning, and growth, and help you rediscover a sense of calm, clarity, and resilience.
You don’t need to do this alone, and you don’t need to leave your home to get help that works.
Final Thought
Anxiety and depression aren’t “who you are.” They’re just messengers, signals that something inside you needs attention, understanding, and care.
You’re not broken. You’re not stuck. You’re ready for change and I’m here to help you.
David Stewart
Evergreen Hypnotherapy
Helping you live with more peace, more calm and more clarity.
