How Anxiety Creates Depression (An Anxiety Therapist Explains in 2026)

Описание: Are You Dealing with Both Anxiety and Depression?

If you are feeling anxious and depressed at the same time, it can feel like you are fighting a losing battle on two different fronts. You might worry that you are chemically or biologically doomed because your mental health struggles have "morphed" into something even bigger.

In this video, I explain why chronic anxiety often leads to low mood and hopelessness—and why you likely don’t have two separate problems to solve. We look at the "Radius of Life" metaphor to understand how avoidance and restriction deplete your psychological resources, eventually creating a situational depression.

In this video, we cover:

The Functional Sequence: How chronic anxiety builds a bridge to depression through repetitive negative thinking.

The Radius of Life: Why restricting your activities to avoid triggers leads to a state of resource depletion.

Metacognitive Concepts: The role of worry and rumination in keeping you stuck in a thinking loop.

A Path Forward: Why focusing treatment on the anxiety—using acceptance and mindful non-resistance—often allows the depressive mood to resolve itself.

I have lived this experience and I see it daily in my clinical practice. You are not eternally broken and there is a path you can follow to get out of this mess.

Timestamps

00:00 - Feeling anxious and depressed at the same time
00:39 - The "Radius of Light" metaphor
01:18 - How resource depletion leads to low mood
01:44 - Building a bridge: Metacognitive Theory
02:30 - The role of worry and rumination
03:16 - The functional sequence: One problem, not two
03:55 - How anxiety treatment helps resolve depression
04:54 - Important context: General principles, not a step-by-step cure
05:58 - Hope, lived experience, and clinical research


About Drew Linsalata: I am a therapist and author specializing in the treatment of anxiety and anxiety disorders, including panic disorder, agoraphobia, and OCD. My practice is focused on third-wave mindfulness and acceptance-based strategies such as ACT, DBT, and Metacognitive Therapy.

Disclaimer: While I am a therapist, I am not YOUR therapist. This video provides general educational principles and is not a substitute for individual professional advice.
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