words for it

Sometimes it's hard for me to distinguish between what is depression and what is anxiety, which makes sense when you think about it because it's not like the two are compartmentalized in one's mind. 

And, strangely, my own judgement about these things isn't definitive. Like, there have been a couple of times when I thought that my main problem was anxiety but when my psychologist gave me that test that measures your levels of stress, anxiety and depression, she said that I was suffering from severe depression but only moderate anxiety.

I suppose that the depression is just so intense that I perceive it as anxiety. Like, to my mind, anxiety is more intense than depression. Depression sounds like something subdued, even benign - something manageable - but what I was experiencing at those times was not very manageable....like, that's why I was seeing a psychologist - to get help in managing my mental health issues. 

Labels are useful, even if they have a negative side. Just to be able to have words for different issues we experience enables us to address those issues. We can say - this issue is why I am being like this, and people will know what we are talking about. The reason that's so helpful is that communication goes a long way towards dealing with these issues. Then, on the other hand, labels can also become limitations.