AARP Hearing Center
![Anxiety and depression are two related, but different mood disorders A man sitting and looking concerned with a hand on his head](https://cdn.aarp.net/content/dam/aarpe/en/home/health/conditions-treatments/info-2024/anxiety-vs-depression/_jcr_content/root/container_main/container_body_main/container_body1/container_body_cf/container_image/articlecontentfragment/cfimage.coreimg.50.932.jpeg/content/dam/aarp/health/brain_health/2024/01/1140-man-hand-head.jpg)
Depression, you could argue, is a mostly “dialed down” mental health condition: Common symptoms are profound feelings of sadness and hopelessness, low energy and feeling detached and unengaged.
Anxiety, in contrast, could be seen as a “dialed up” condition: Often, it manifests itself as a racing heart, tense muscles and a cascade of worried thoughts and impulses.
![member card Image Alt Attribute](https://cdn.aarp.net/content/dam/experience-fragments/uxdia-folder-structure/en/features/membership/inline-membership-promo/default/master5/_jcr_content/root/responsivegrid/container_copy/container/articleimage.coreimg.75.1140.png/content/dam/uxdia/membership-card-d-and-t.png)
LIMITED TIME OFFER: Labor Day Sale!
Join AARP for just $9 per year with a 5-year membership and get a FREE Gift!
How, then, is it that such seemingly opposite mood disorders go hand in hand? And yet they do. Almost half of people grappling with depression also have anxiety, according to a 2020 summary in The American Journal of Psychiatry. And older adults are not immune. In a 2023 survey by AARP, about a quarter of respondents 50-plus said a health professional had told them that they had an anxiety disorder and/or depression.
The short answer is that people with anxiety often avoid outings and interactions with others, which can push a person into a depressed state. And the converse is also true: A chronically depressed mood can make a person more vulnerable to anxiety. There are also shared biological, familial, genetic and brain risk factors for depression and anxiety. Plus there are many underlying medical conditions that can lead to depression and anxiety, such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer and others.
When a person suffers from both conditions, the effects can be debilitating. “Depression and anxiety kind of work together to create the cycle of feeling, thinking and behaving that ... keeps a person trapped,” says Craig Sawchuk, professor of psychology at the Mayo Clinic.
AARP's Brain Health Resource Center
Find more on brain health plus dementia, stroke, falls, depression/anxiety and Parkinson's disease.
Here’s what you need to know about each, how they interact and how you can break the cycle:
What is anxiety?
You mostly know the answer to that: It’s a feeling of excessive and unrealistic worry that triggers not just strong emotions but physical symptoms as well, as if your body is readying itself for a fight or to run away as fast as it can. For most of us, anxiety is an occasional and expected visitor in our lives. It’s normal to feel jittery before giving a speech or going on a first date, for instance. But routinely experiencing fear in response to low-risk events can signal a problem. Letting chronic worry and dread take over so that you opt not to socialize, go to the supermarket or leave home altogether may be a sign of an anxiety disorder.
Doctors acknowledge several types of anxiety disorders. Two examples are social anxiety disorder, involving intense fear in social situations, and panic disorder, in which a panic attack hits, often without warning, causing shortness of breath, dizziness and even chest pain. The most common type of anxiety is simple phobias — of heights, spiders, getting injections and other common fear-inducing situations. They are typically treated with psychotherapy and/or medications.
More From AARP
Mental Well-Being Series
Four challenges to manage emotions, boost resilience, practice mindfulness and pursue happiness, all at Staying Sharp®
Older Adults Have a Harder Time Beating Depression
Study finds greatest severity among adults 70+How I Found a Solution to My Depression
Decades of medicines and therapies didn’t work. But in what appeared to be my darkest times, an alternative therapy rescued meRecommended for You