Brain health · Sanctum

Anxiety or depression that came first

You have been treated for anxiety or depression for years. The medication and the therapy helped a little, took the edge off, and yet the real thing underneath was never quite touched, and it always came back.

For many people, anxiety and low mood are not the whole story, they are the fallout. A brain working overtime to keep up, masking, managing rejection sensitivity and never feeling on top of things, will understandably become anxious or low. Treat only the surface and it returns, because the thing driving it was never addressed.

Because the anxiety or depression is real and gets diagnosed first, the neurotype beneath stays hidden, sometimes for decades. People conclude they are treatment-resistant, when in truth the treatment was aimed at the wrong layer.

We look for what might sit underneath the anxiety or the low mood, because the right frame changes what actually helps. None of this is a diagnosis, and it does not undo the diagnoses you have. It is what we explore with you. If any of this feels heavy right now, you do not have to sit with it alone. Your GP can help, and the Samaritans are on 116 123.

Written by Dr Asad RaffiConsultant Psychiatrist · Founder & Medical Director