Is There a Link Between Panic Attacks and Depression?

The anxiety that causes panic attacks and depression are two, almost polar opposite, psychological conditions – panic attacks are symptoms of an excess of energy, while depression drains away all energy. But panic attacks and depression often seem to coincide in the same person, and they are often treated the same way. Antidepressants are often used to quell anxiety, and behavioral therapy often helps treat depression. Is there a link between panic attacks and depression?

Frequently occurring panic attacks can cause depression, but people with depression seem very likely to also have generalized anxiety disorder or some other panic disorder. In one study of people with major depression, over half of the participants were also diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder. Thirty-five percent of the participants had panic disorders and panic attacks.

Further, studies show that when a person exhibits both symptoms of depression and has panic attacks, both conditions are more severe than those in people who only have one disorder. Often, when depression and panic attacks coexist in the same person, anxiety heightens the risk of suicide and interferes with recovery. In one study, 92% of depressed patients who had attempted suicide also suffered from severe anxiety and panic attacks.

Panic attacks and depression seem to exist together and feed off of each other, but it is unclear that one causes the other. A person who suffers from panic attacks may experience depression as the underlying anxiety disorder restricts his or her daily activities, but are the panic attacks causing depression? After all, though a lot of people who are depressed seem to suffer from anxiety, not nearly as many people who suffer from panic attacks are depressed. Is there a causal link one way or another, or is there some other thing going on that causes both panic attacks and depression?

The common physical link between panic attacks and depression may be serotonin. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter, and it is present in high levels in the bodies of people who suffer from panic attacks and people who suffer from depression. Excessive levels of certain neurotransmitters, including serotonin, interfere with the way the brain interprets external stimuli. Anxiety of the type that leads to recurrent panic attacks and depression can both be seen as mental conditions in which sufferers misinterpret the world around them.

Panic attacks and depression can exist independently of each other, but they frequently seem to coexist. If not causal, there is some link between panic attacks and depression. If you or a loved one are experiencing both panic attacks and depression, please seek help immediately. Panic attacks are bad enough by themselves, and depression is hellish on its own, but combined, panic attacks and depression are doubly difficult to treat and make a potentially deadly medical condition.