Late February Monte Report

Once again I can say that I'm doing marginally better than I was ten days ago. Maybe this high dose of Seroquel is really helping. This past weekend I made good use of the rainy days: rather than stay cooped up in my house all day moping, I spent time with others. Brunch and a movie with friends, and then later another movie with another friend on Saturday. On Sunday it was church in the morning and lunch with my Dad and brother in the afternoon. Filling in my free time like that seems to do me a lot of good, even though what I often want to do is just crawl under the covers and hide in my bed. So it takes effort to engage with other people, but in the end it's worth it.

From the book "Coping With Depression" there is some information on the connection between anxiety and depression:

"Anxiety and depression often feed into each other, and sometimes it's hard to tell them apart. . . . Anxiety fuels depression because it wears you out and saps your energy, not to mention also robbing you of pleasure and enjoyment. Depression also contributes to anxiety; for example, you may become more anxious when you must face a social obligation or work situation that you feel you cannot handle because you're so depressed."

and

"Depression and anxiety present a double-whammy: both promote disengagement from the environment in general and from other people in particular. Being depressed, you have little incentive to be with other people, because the pleasure is not there."

and

"Controlling depression and anxiety is quite a balancing act. If you can get yourself absorbed and engaged in relaxing activities, you might be able to accomplish both at the same time."

I have definitely noticed that my anxiety is triggered repeatedly throughout the day at work, which feeds into my depression. I take Xanax to help control it, with some success. Understanding this connection between anxiety and depression helps me to better see what's happening when I'm falling into despair, which helps me to control the extent to which I fall down, and which helps me better my chances of quickly getting back on my feet again.