Social Anxiety and Depression

Did you know that social anxiety can lead to depression? Unfortunately, many social anxiety sufferers avoid social situations such as going out into public situations where they may fear experiencing anxiety. Often, social anxiety may keep a person locked up in their house. The lack of socialization or social contact can lead to depression.
It's not always the case that someone who suffers from social anxiety is shy or anti-social. Actually, many social anxiety sufferers tend to be very outgoing, enjoy socializing and making new friends. Though, the experience of anxiety in social situations deters them from engaging in future social events for fear of experiencing anxiety.


In fact, this is a common cycle for all anxiety sufferers (those suffering from ocd, agoraphobia, GAD, etc.). Once that initial anxiety fear is experienced, they relay the anxiety with the experience at that time. As they continue to experience anxiety in situations they manifest more fear and attach that fear or anxiety to the situation.

Experiencing anxiety is scary. Once you add depression to someone who has anxiety, this is extremely detrimental. Though there is treatment for both anxiety and depression, it can be difficult at first to see the light. This can be especially true when faced with having both issues as depression can really drain your energy and motivation.

Depression is like driving down a steep hill. You will accelerate in speed due to momentum. Depression can accelerate and get worse with time. If you suffer from social anxiety and find you are also starting to feel depressed, you need to act fast. The sooner you talk to someone or see a doctor the easier it is to overcome both anxiety and depression.