Living with a chronic illness can lead to depression and anxiety.  Research has indicated that patients diagnosed with RA are more likely to experience depression than healthy individuals.  Similarly, patients diagnosed with depression are more likely to experience anxiety.  

When you were first diagnosed with RA, did you feel relief to have a diagnosis?  Were you worried about the future?  Did you feel helpless and get depressed?

My RA symptoms were so dramatic at time of diagnosis that I was very worried about ever being able to use my hands normally again.  After treatment began to work, I was extremely relieved to have found an excellent rheumatologist and receive an accurate diagnosis.  I felt hope for the future.

Many years before developing RA, I first experienced depression during graduate school.  It manifested as seasonal affective disorder (SAD).  Eventually my depression developed into a mild but long-term (chronic) form of depression called dysthymia.  Medication and counseling were effective in preventing a cause of severe depression.

It is completely normal to have a mixture of feelings when diagnosed with a progressive, chronic disease.  We may need to take some time to mourn the person you were before disease and the person you had planned to be in the future.  Our lives were forever changed when the doctor said, “you have rheumatoid arthritis.”  

We may fear that we won’t be able to take care of ourselves or our families.  Or that our family will continue to care for and love us no matter what happens.  These feelings of fear and doubt, in addition to understandable anger, can lead to depression and anxiety.

Signs and symptoms of depression include:
    •    persistent sadness, anxiousness, or "empty" feelings
    •    feelings of hopelessness, pessimism, or helplessness
    •    agitation, irritability or restlessness
    •    fatigue, decreased energy, and tiredness
    •    loss of interest in activities or hobbies once pleasurable or decreased sex drive
    •    trouble concentrating, remembering details, or making decisions
    •    insomnia, early-morning wakefulness, or excessive sleep
    •    change in appetite, increased or decreased eating/food cravings, weight gain or weight loss
    •    frequent thoughts of death, dying or suicide, worthlessness or guilt
    •    unprovoked crying spells and/or unexplained physical problems

There are several types of anxiety including panic disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, social anxiety disorder, specific phobias, and generalized anxiety disorder.  Many of the symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder overlap with depression.