Best Practice

Anxiety and depression: Are they co-morbid?

Pastoral issues Pupil wellbeing Mental health Safeguarding
An estimated one in 10 teenagers have mental health problems, with a high prevalence of anxiety and depression. In this five-article series, Dr Stephanie Thornton advises schools and teachers. In part two, she asks if anxiety and depression are co-morbid or one syndrome

As we discussed in the first article in this five-part series, it is widely accepted that around 10 per cent of teenagers have mental health problems, the majority being diagnosed with anxiety, depression, or both. Many experts believe that that figure is actually much higher, and rising: we do not really know, since no major review has been undertaken for some time (Beesdo et al, 2009).

If you search online for depression and anxiety you will find many sites offering advice on how to identify these issues: depression has these symptoms, anxiety has those. And in a professional context, we generally treat these as separate disorders: that is how most diagnostic systems and textbooks present the issues at the moment.

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