How does the mental illnesses of PTSD, anxiety, and depression affect someone's quality of

life in the long run?

APRIL 10, 2022

PROFESSOR ECHOLS
English Composition II
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Julia Bowden

Professor Echols

English Composition II

10 April 2022

How does the mental illness of PTSD, anxiety, and depression affect someone’s quality of life in

the long run?

Imagine you have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder; there would be many

questions that you would have concerned the diagnosis. What caused this disorder? What is the

disorder? What can be done to treat it? Upon looking closely at depression, anxiety, and PTSD

we can determine the proper treatment for the disorder at hand. The effects of these disorders

affect the quality of life and if not treated properly can do more than just mental damage.

Anxiety is characterized by having racing thoughts, uncontrollable thoughts of worry

for at least six months, restlessness, irritability, and a few more symptoms. These symptoms

can wreak havoc in the moment and can cause an enormous amount of stress on the

individual. Additionally, from the sources I have gathered the stress from anxiety can be

detrimental to not only someone’s mental health, but also physical health. An even more

detrimental form of anxiety is when general anxiety turns into a panic attack which can result

in more damage to the individual.

Anxiety can come about in numerous ways; some include social situations, high stress

situations and or just passed down through genetics. An example of social situation anxiety

may include there being too many people in one area, fear of other individuals judging you,
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and being uncomfortable meeting new people. Additionally, high stress situations can

include getting a new job, moving from someplace you were in your comfort zone at, or just

something particularly important going on in the individual’s life. Moreover, according to

Bayan Mental Health’s website anxiety can affect someone’s internal organ health. Some

organs that could be affected, especially in the long run would be a weakened immune

system, gastrointestinal issues, heart problems, and memory issues. At the core of these three

crucial issues includes fatigue, memory issues, dizziness, breathing problems, upset stomach,

muscle aches, heart palpitations, increased blood pressure, and migraines. After reading what

could happen with generalized anxiety, you may be wondering how you could prevent these

present symptoms or prevent the long-term symptoms from happening later in life.

With these causes of anxiety there are ways to treat it such as therapy and medication

depending on how bad the symptoms are. Medication is often the common way of treating

general anxiety disorder. These medications are usually combo medications that treat anxiety

as well as depression such as Zoloft (sertraline), Xanax (alprazolam), Lexapro

(escitalopram), and a common popular other medication is Hydroxyzine hydrochloride which

calms the individual’s anxiety symptoms. Additionally, therapy styles that could treat anxiety

include psychotherapy based around cognitive behavioral therapy. Cognitive behavioral

therapy is described as a talk-based therapy specializing in retraining one’s thoughts that are

negative into positive and helps one become more aware of the feelings the individual has

about themselves and why they feel that way.

While anxiety has many effects on the body there is another mental disorder that also

can have an impact on an individual in the long-run, depression. Depression is characterized

as feeling hopeless, sad, lack of pleasure, short temper, memory loss and much more
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depending on the type. The types of depression out there would be major depression,

persistent depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, seasonal affective disorder, perinatal

depression, and PMDD. With all these diverse types there are different symptoms to each and

two, perinatal and PMDD, are only linked to women.

Major depression has the common symptoms of, according to Harvard’s website

“losing interest in activities, even ones that are usually pleasurable. Symptoms of this type of

depression include trouble sleeping, changes in appetite or weight, loss of energy, and feeling

worthless.” Additionally, persistent depressive disorder is when the individual lives day by

day joyless and in a low mood but can function better than someone with major depression.

They may even suffer from appetite changes, sleep changes, and feel hopeless. Moreover,

bipolar disorder is episodes of depression mixed in with episodes of mania, elevated levels of

energy, unrealistically high self-esteem, and a decrease in need for sleep.

Furthermore, according to Harvard’s website, seasonal affective disorder takes place

in individuals during the fall and winter due to the body not receiving enough sunlight and

melatonin that would be normally received in the summer months. Equally important, there

is perinatal depression commonly referred to as postpartum depression which affects one in

seven women. This type of depression has symptoms of “major and minor depressive episodes

that occur during pregnancy or in the first 12 months after delivery.” Lastly, there is PMDD

commonly referred to as premenstrual syndrome depression due to common depression

symptoms taking place only after ovulation begins and ending when a woman’s menstruation

period ends.

There are many reasons why depression can appear in an individual. Depression in any

form can show up as early as five years old and can even wait to appear when someone is in the
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older age bracket depending on circumstances. According to Healthline, some instances where

depression could show up are chronic pain, medical conditions, brain structure, early childhood

trauma, substance use, brain chemistry, family history, and hormone levels. Additionally, there

are also risk factors that include gender, socioeconomic status, vitamin D deficiency, gender

identity, and some more risks can be added depending on one’s health status.

Taking a closer look at these issues chronic pain for prolonged periods of time treated or

not can lead to an increased risk of depression. Moreover, medical conditions such as insomnia,

cancer, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, and heart attack leave someone with a higher depression rate

than a healthier person. Additionally, brain structure can lead to depression due to there not

being normal amount of activity happening in the frontal lobe and while that is happening brain

chemistry is also added into the factor because depression is mostly caused by a chemical

imbalance in the brain. The next issue would be family history because the more individuals in

the family with depression the more likely the next individual is to have depression. Finally,

childhood trauma can cause depression and a slew of other issues such as changing your brains

thinking with how you react to fear and stress.

Risk factors that can lead to depression vary, but the impact is the same. First, gender can

have a significant impact on if you get depression; if you are female, you are more likely to

experience depression than a male. Second, gender identity can play as a risk factor especially if

you are transgender rather than cisgender. Third, vitamin D deficiency can be due to seasonal

affective disorder and or the individual lacking in vitamin D levels. Fourth, socioeconomic status

can be an issue because of financial burdens with the lower-class label. Finally, as said in the

description of depression the risk factors of having a baby can also create depression due to the

fluctuating hormones in the woman’s body and chemical imbalances.

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While there are many risk factors and other medical issues that could bring about

depression there are also as many ways to treat depression as there are types of depression. Most

depressions can be treated with therapy and medications, but some usually most do both to feel

themselves again. Some therapy types that can be used to treat depression are psychotherapy,

CBT therapy, DBT therapy, and psychodynamic therapy. Psychotherapy is usually just patient

with therapist talking through the patients’ issues and giving them coping skills and tools to build

a better life for themselves. CBT therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, is like psychotherapy,

but is also used to uncover unhealthy thought patterns and helping the patient recognize them

and replace them with healthy thoughts instead. DBT therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, like

cognitive behavioral therapy is used to help the patient accept their negative thoughts and

feelings instead of invalidating them. Finally, there is psychodynamic therapy which is used to

help the patient cope with their day-to-day life. Additionally, there is a therapy also provided for

seasonal affected disorder which is light therapy; this therapy introduces doses of white light to

help regulate the patient’s mood and depression symptoms.

Depression also has another cure which is medications commonly referred to as

SSRI’s. These medications can relieve depression symptoms by changing how the individual

reacts and responds to the emotions of stress, anger, and anxiety. Additionally, there is

acupuncture therapy if the patient desires which like the medications, helps relieve symptoms

of depression. While there are ways to help relieve depression symptoms there is no way to

fully cure depression just ways to cope with its existence. For many, depression is a lifelong

struggle even with therapy and medication in conjunction; thus, would make depression a

long-term issue and symptoms can get better. Though if left untreated a depressant can

experience bad days which can affect their life in the long run if they do not get help.
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The final mental health diagnosis to be discussed is PTSD, post-traumatic stress

disorder. This disorder is usually caused by a traumatic event that can happen in the

individual’s life such as a war, physical assault, natural disaster, or an accident. This disorder

is not only caused by traumatic events but is called post-traumatic because flashbacks and

nightmares are frequent after the event has long passed. Additionally, the patient diagnosed

with the disorder may also try to avoid the triggers of their post-traumatic stress disorder

such as places, objects, or even people. Similarly, regular post-traumatic stress disorder has

the basic symptoms of sense of threat, avoidance, and re-experiencing. Moreover, this

disorder can be increased by depression and anxiety and is more likely to show up in females

than males. Similarly, there is also complex post-traumatic stress disorder which is caused by

the same events as normal post-traumatic stress disorder but is when the traumatic event is

repeated over a period such as domestic violence, child abuse, genocide, or slavery. Finally,

complex post-traumatic stress disorders basic overview of symptoms includes interpersonal

disturbances, negative self-concept, affect dysregulation, sense of threat, avoidance, and re-

experiencing according to Trauma Dissociation.

Post-traumatic stress disorder can be considered to have many causes, but it is

unknown of how they fully play a role in someone developing post-traumatic stress disorder.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, some causes they say can lead to post-

traumatic stress disorder are childhood trauma, seeing a dead body, having a history of

mental illness, dealing with extra stress after traumatic event. Some childhood traumas that

could be included in the development of PTSD would be domestic violence, sexual assault,

etc. Additionally, a history of mental illness would increase the symptoms of post-traumatic

stress disorder especially if the patient had been diagnosed with anxiety and or depression
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due to the concept of post-traumatic stress disorder being a ramped up combined version of

the other two disorders. Similarly, complex post-traumatic stress disorder is the same as

regular post-traumatic stress disorder but has one difference, length of exposure to trauma. In

many instances post-traumatic stress disorder is formed from a one-time event such as a car

accident, watching a loved one die, an assault, or even an event like September 11 th, 2001.

Complex post-traumatic stress disorder is formed from repetitive trauma over an extended

period. According to Trauma Dissociation instances for repetitive trauma for this version of

the disorder would include prolonged physical abuse, prolonged sexual abuse, torture, or

being held captive. Finally, while these traumas may come back mentally to make the patient

relive the experience there are ways that can help lessen the disorders symptoms.

There are only a couple of treatment options when it comes to post-traumatic stress

disorder and complex post-traumatic stress disorder. Some treatments are like how you treat

anxiety and depression. Treatment phases highlighted by Trauma Dissociation are, “Phase 1

focuses on improving the individual’s safety, reducing symptoms and skills training, which

increases the person's emotional, social, and psychological competencies. This often involves

medication. Improving safety refers to reducing unsafe behaviors, e.g., self-harm, and risk

taking, and if possible, establishing a safe environment. Phase 2 focuses on processing and

reappraisal of the unresolved trauma memories. This results in memories being integrated into an

"adaptive representation of self, relationships and the world" and should be done using individual

rather than group therapy. Phase 3 involves consolidating treatment gains, including using these

gains to engage more in interpersonal relationships, work/education, and the community/life in

general”. Moreover, while these treatment phases can help the patient the treatment would be
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considered life-long due to the uncertainty of when the flashbacks and nightmares along with any

other symptoms that can show up at any point in time.

Going back to the original question at the beginning of the essay of how can these

mental health diagnosis’ affect someone’s quality of life. Taking a closer look at these

diagnosis’ anxiety can affect someone’s quality of life because the patient can live in the

constant state of worry or suffer from panic attacks, depression can affect the patients life

because the patient is constantly clouded with morose thoughts and can make it impossible

for the individual to even get out of bed or do the simplest tasks. Finally, post-traumatic

stress disorder can affect someone’s life because the diagnosis is a ramped-up version of

depression and anxiety but can hover constantly mental-wise due to the flashbacks and

making the patient want to avoid any triggers that can send the patient into a post-traumatic

episode. These affects can be tiring over an extended period and can affect someone in the

long run by controlling the patient’s life in how they perceive the world and how they go

about their daily activities.

In conclusion, any mental illness can be a grueling task to live with everyday and can

lead to many health issues not only mentally, but physically. Anxiety affects the patient’s life

in the long run by causing a constant worry over anything the patient might be anxious about

and over an extended period with that your body has issues with your GI tract, memory, and

even your heart. Depression affects the patient by causing a chemical imbalance in the brain

and making the patient miserable with their thoughts to the point they cannot seem to get up

and do anything or even want to do activities they used to love. Post-traumatic stress disorder

can affect the patient by enacting the symptoms of anxiety and depression but add triggers as

to when the disorder ramps up with flashbacks and nightmares; leaving the patient to live a
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life full of wondering what will trigger their disorder and avoiding many things in their lives

just so they can live their life.

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Works Cited

“How Does Anxiety Affect the Brain? 4 Major Effects of Anxiety.” StoneRidge: Center for

Brains, 30 July 2020, pronghornpsych.com/how-does-anxiety-affect-the-brain/

Klas Backholm & Kaj Björkqvist (2012) The mediating effect of depression between exposure to

potentially traumatic events and PTSD in news journalists, European Journal of

Psychotraumatology, 3:1, DOI: 10.3402/ejpt.v3i0.18388

Maples-Keller, Jessica L., et al. “The Relations between C-Reactive Protein and Trauma

Exposure, PTSD and Depression Symptoms, and PTSD Psychotherapy Treatment

Response in Treatment Seeking Veterans and Service Members.” Brain, Behavior, and

Immunity, vol. 101, 2022, pp. 84–92., doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2021.12.025.

“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.” National Institute of Mental Health, U.S. Department of Health

and Human Services, www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd.

“Six Common Depression Types.” Harvard Health, 13 Oct. 2020, www.health.harvard.edu/mind-

and-mood/six-common-depression-types.

“The Impact of Traumatic Events on Mental Health.” Mental Health Foundation, 16 Jan. 2020,

www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/impact-traumatic-events-mental-health.

Traumadissociation.com. “Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms and Diagnostic

Criteria.” Trauma Dissociation, Traumadissociation.com, 1 Jan. 1970,

http://traumadissociation.com/complexptsd.
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“The Short and Long-Term Effects of Anxiety on The Body: Mental Health Blog.” Mental

Health Program at Banyan Treatment Centers, 28 May 2021,

www.banyanmentalhealth.com/2019/11/25/short-and-long-term-effects-of-anxiety-on-

the-body/