A hard week and a clinical condition are not the same thing.
Feeling low sometimes is part of being human. Depression is something else. The National Institute of Mental Health describes it as a condition that can cause severe symptoms affecting how you feel, think, and handle daily activities such as sleeping, eating, or working, with symptoms lasting at least two weeks.
Worry is also ordinary in ordinary doses. An anxiety disorder involves more than occasional worry or fear: the anxiety does not go away, shows up across many situations, and can get worse over time. For generalized anxiety disorder, NIMH notes that a person must find worry difficult to control on most days for at least six months. Panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and phobia-related disorders are other forms.
Recognizing yourself in a definition is a reason to talk to a provider, not a diagnosis. Only a qualified clinician can evaluate you.
If you need help now, reach a person — not a web form.
The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Your conversation is free and confidential.
You do not have to be suicidal to use it. The Lifeline is for everyone — people facing mental health struggles or emotional distress, people worried about alcohol or drug use, people who just need someone to talk to, and people calling about somebody they love. In a life-threatening situation, call 911 instead.
Please do not wait on a return call from an office, and never use an appointment request to report a crisis. Nobody is reading those in the middle of the night.
- Call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org — around the clock, free, and confidential.
- Call 911 if you or someone else is in immediate danger.
What people notice, and why these two travel together.
For depression, NIMH lists a persistent sad mood, hopelessness, irritability, guilt, loss of interest in things that used to matter, fatigue, trouble concentrating, changes in sleep or appetite, unexplained physical pain, and thoughts of suicide. Withdrawing from people and letting responsibilities slide are also described.
For generalized anxiety disorder, NIMH lists excessive worry about everyday things, trouble controlling nervousness, feeling irritable or on edge, restlessness, difficulty concentrating, sleep problems and fatigue, and physical symptoms including headaches, muscle aches, stomachaches, trembling, sweating, lightheadedness, or feeling out of breath.
The overlap between those two lists is not your imagination. NIMH notes that people with generalized anxiety disorder often have other conditions alongside it, including depression, other anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic pain syndromes, cardiovascular problems, or suicidal thoughts or behaviors. Depression, in turn, can co-occur with chronic illnesses such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and chronic pain. Several things can be true at once, which is why a real evaluation beats a checklist.
How qualified clinicians evaluate and treat this.
Health care providers diagnose depression and anxiety disorders — a primary care doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist, or clinical social worker among them. NIMH notes that a provider can rule out other possibilities with a physical exam, an interview, and lab tests, because some medical conditions and medications produce symptoms that look similar.
The established treatments have evidence behind them and are worth taking seriously. NIMH describes psychotherapy, including cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and interpersonal therapy; medication, including antidepressants such as SSRIs, anti-anxiety medications, and esketamine for treatment-resistant depression; and brain stimulation therapies such as electroconvulsive therapy and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation.
Antidepressants usually take four to eight weeks to work, and sleep, appetite, and concentration often improve before mood lifts. Finding the best treatment can take trial and error, which is frustrating but normal. Talk to a health care provider before starting or stopping any medication. NIMH's plain summary is worth repeating: most people with depression benefit from mental health treatment.
Where this practice fits, and what to ask when you call.
Gates Brain Health publicly describes itself as a functional neurology practice in Reno, Nevada, led by Dr. Randall Gates, D.C., DACNB — a board-certified chiropractic neurologist. He is not a medical doctor, a psychiatrist, or a psychologist, and this practice is not a substitute for mental health care.
The practice's published position is that its work complements conventional psychiatric care rather than replacing it, and that Dr. Gates coordinates with a patient's existing care team, including primary care physicians and psychiatrists, when appropriate. This page makes no claim that the practice treats, resolves, or improves depression or anxiety. Whether there is anything useful here for you is a question for a conversation with your own providers in the loop.
The practice offers a free consultation before anyone becomes a patient. To ask about one, call (775) 507-2000, Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Save the medical details for the phone call rather than sending them through this site.
- Ask how a consultation would work alongside my therapist, prescriber, or primary care provider.
- Ask what an evaluation here can look at — and what it cannot tell me.
- Ask what would make Dr. Gates say this is not the right fit for me.
- Ask who I should contact if my mood or anxiety gets worse.