How common are Anxiety and Depression?

We all experience anxiety and depression some time or the other in our lives. It is a normal helpful reaction to stressfully demanding situations and is one of the several emotions that we experience in our lives in response to situations. It adversely affects the work and mental health when it occurs too often and lasts too long. Depression and Anxiety take on the form of a disease when they affect you for months and disturb the quality of life when it becomes mandatory to seek medical help. The number of people suffering from anxiety and depression is on the increase and has become a common problem of modern progressive affluent society.

Are Anxiety and Depression useful ?

Anxiety can have two effects

1. Anticipatory Anxiety : This is a helpful response. It is an ability to anticipate danger, take necessary precautions, and adapt suitably to cope up in a healthy way. This is called Signal Anxiety (fight response).
2. Panic or Intense Anxiety: This is an inability to cope or adapt to the demanding situation and is called Traumatic Anxiety (flight response). Hence the person could suffer from different anxiety disorders.

Depression, another form of response to emotionally demanding situations can be of two types depending on its severity.

1. In its mild form, this form of depression takes you into your inner being and opens up the inner wisdom and helps you to move towards a mature personality.
2. When the depression becomes more severe, it leads to unmanageable degree of chemical imbalances requiring correction through medication.

KNEE STRETCH

Sthiti: Tadasana

Practice:

• While exhaling squat down on the feet, place the palms on the outer sides of the feet.
• While inhaling return to Tadasana.
• Move up and down rapidly.
• Repeat about 40 to 50 times.

Note:

• In sitting position keep the knees together and ensure that the entire heels and palms are on the ground .