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When Anxiety Shows Up as Low Mood: Understanding the Anxiety-Depression Overlap

Sep 24
5 min read

Feeling anxious and low at the same time is more common than many people realize. Here’s why anxiety and depression overlap, why the symptoms can be easy to confuse, and why recognizing the full pattern matters.


Table of Contents

  • How Common Is the Anxiety-Depression Overlap?

  • Why Anxiety and Depression Can Look So Similar

  • Why Naming the Overlap Changes the Approach

  • What This Means Depending on What You’re Noticing

  • Next Step

  • FAQs

  • About the Author


Executive Summary

Anxiety and depression frequently occur together, and they can share symptoms such as fatigue, sleep problems, irritability, trouble concentrating, and withdrawal from activities. In Canada’s 2012 national mental-health survey, Statistics Canada reported that 52.6% of people who met criteria for generalized anxiety disorder also met criteria for depression [1]. A separate analysis of the same survey data found that people with both GAD and a major depressive episode reported the highest levels of psychological distress and disability, along with more unmet or partly met care needs [2]. This guide explains why the overlap can be hard to recognize and why looking at the full symptom pattern matters.


How Common Is the Anxiety-Depression Overlap?

Anxiety and depression are distinct conditions, but they often occur together. Statistics Canada’s analysis of the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey — Mental Health found that 2.6% of Canadians aged 15 and older met criteria for generalized anxiety disorder in the previous 12 months, and 52.6% of those people also met criteria for depression [1].

An analysis focused on the burden of generalized anxiety disorder found a similar pattern: major depressive episode symptoms co-occurred in about half of people with GAD. The group experiencing both conditions reported worse perceived health, more psychological distress, more disability, and a greater share of unmet or partially met health-care needs than people with either condition alone [2].


Why Anxiety and Depression Can Look So Similar

The overlap is easy to miss because several everyday symptoms can fit either pattern:

  • Trouble sleeping — anxiety can keep you awake with racing thoughts, while depression can show up as sleeping too much or waking exhausted. Sleep disruption can occur with both.

  • Low energy or fatigue — anxiety can be exhausting when your nervous system stays on alert, while low energy and heaviness are also common with depression.

  • Difficulty concentrating — anxiety can make the mind jump between worries, while depression can feel more like mental fog or slowed thinking.

  • Irritability — feeling constantly on edge can shorten your fuse, and depleted coping resources can do the same when mood is low.

  • Withdrawal from activities — anxiety may lead to avoiding situations that trigger worry, while depression may reduce interest or pleasure in activities. From the outside, both can look like pulling away.

Because several symptoms can sit in both columns, it is possible to focus entirely on anxiety or entirely on low mood and miss that the other pattern is present too.


Why Naming the Overlap Changes the Approach

When symptoms from both anxiety and depression are present, focusing on only one label can leave part of the person’s experience unexplored. A fuller intake looks at which symptoms are actually present, when they show up, how they interact, and whether earlier experiences or ingrained thinking patterns are contributing to both at once.

That does not mean every tired or unmotivated person with anxiety has depression, or that every restless person with low mood has an anxiety disorder. It means the overlap is common enough that the full pattern is worth assessing rather than assuming one symptom explains everything.


What This Means Depending on What You’re Noticing

  • You mainly notice anxious thoughts, but you’re also unusually tired and unmotivated. Don’t automatically dismiss the fatigue and low motivation as “just” anxiety. They are worth naming directly so the fuller pattern can be assessed.

  • You mainly notice low mood, but you also feel keyed up, restless, or unable to switch your mind off. The agitation may be part of the same picture rather than a completely separate issue.

  • You’ve tried addressing one side and it only partly helped. Revisit the full symptom picture instead of assuming the approach failed. Another set of symptoms may still need attention.

  • You’re not sure whether it is anxiety, depression, or both. That uncertainty is useful information. A thorough intake is designed to sort through overlapping symptoms before deciding on an approach.


Next Step

At Caravan Counselling, the starting point is understanding the fuller pattern rather than forcing every symptom into a single category. Depending on what is happening, the approach may draw from counselling, coaching, hypnotherapy, NLP, or other methods where appropriate. Caravan Counselling offers a free 15-minute consultation. Visit caravancounselling.com/counseling-and-psychotherapy or call 1 (306) 242-6688.


Frequently Asked Questions

Can you have both anxiety and depression at the same time?

Yes. Canadian population data show substantial overlap between generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive episodes, including about half of people with GAD also meeting criteria for depression in the 2012 survey data [1][2].

Many symptoms overlap, including fatigue, sleep problems, trouble concentrating, irritability, and withdrawal from activities. A thorough conversation about the full pattern is more reliable than trying to self-diagnose from one symptom or label.

Research using Canadian survey data found that people with both generalized anxiety disorder and a major depressive episode reported higher psychological distress and disability than people with either condition alone [2].

Not necessarily. If low-mood symptoms are also present, they are worth identifying directly so the treatment plan reflects the full picture rather than assuming one set of symptoms will automatically resolve with the other.

The starting point is a careful assessment of which symptoms are present and how they interact. From there, the approach can be tailored to the person rather than assuming a single label explains everything.



About the Author

Dr. Giti Caravan, PhD | Founder & Clinical Director, Caravan Counselling

Dr. Giti Caravan brings nearly four decades of clinical expertise to her practice in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She holds a BA in Clinical Psychology and a Master's degree in Counselling, and has completed more than 120 certifications across therapeutic disciplines including CBT, NLP, Timeline Therapy, and clinical hypnotherapy. She is a member of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association, the American Board of Hypnotherapy, the American Board of NLP Coaches, and the American Board of Timeline Therapy.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical or psychological advice. If you are experiencing significant mental health symptoms, please consult a qualified healthcare professional or contact your local mental health crisis line.



Sources

[1] Statistics Canada — “Mental and substance use disorders in Canada” — https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-624-x/2013001/article/11855-eng.htm

[2] Statistics Canada / Health Reports — “The burden of generalized anxiety disorder in Canada” — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28273041/


[3] Statistics Canada — “Perceived need for mental health care in Canada” — https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-003-x/2013009/article/11863-eng.htm




 
 
 

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