Author: Stephen Johnson / Source: Big Think
- The study examined the relationships between symptoms of major depressive disorder and social anxiety disorder.
- Traditionally, shared symptoms haven’t been viewed as interacting elements that can cause someone suffering from one disorder to develop the other.
- The researchers argue that symptoms of one disorder can act as “bridges” that lead to the other. The findings suggest that treatments for depression and social anxiety can be improved by focusing on specific bridge symptoms instead of general underlying factors.
Major depressive disorder and social anxiety disorder affect millions of people worldwide, and they rank among the top three most prevalent psychiatric conditions in the U.S. The two disorders have a high rate of comorbidity, and they share some of the same symptoms: irritability, unstable mood and feelings of worthlessness. When someone develops both conditions, these effects become more debilitating.
Traditionally, researchers have seen these symptoms as manifestations of the underlying forces that led to either disorder, and not as interacting elements that can cause someone suffering from one disorder to develop the other.
A recent study from researchers at Washington University in St. Louis provides a new theory for the relationship between depression and social anxiety, one that conceptualizes their symptoms in a causal network. The authors wrote that the shared symptoms of the disorders can be seen as interacting elements, or “nodes,” and that some nodes can act as “bridge symptoms” that cause people already suffering from, say, depression, to develop social anxiety.
“A bridge symptom can be conceptualized as a stepping-stone in a pathway…
The post Through ‘bridge symptoms’ social anxiety can develop into depression, and vice versa appeared first on FeedBox.