Can depression lead to anxiety disorder?

I have been experiencing heart palpitations, rapid heart beats, dilated pupils, sometimes paleness, and sometimes trembling. When I have first been experiencing the heart palpitations and rapid heart beat I have stayed afraid and worried that I might have heart problems. I have been to the doctor and cardiologist and I have went through many heart tests and showed that nothing is wrong with my heart, now my doctor might thing i have anxiety disorder. what I want to know (if i even have anxiety disorder) is what caused it. I have been through depression before, so my questions are, what leads into anxiety? Can it just occur out of nowhere? I also want to know, are there any bad side effects to anti-depressants (my doctor might put me on them). Thanks.

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well i have been said to be a manic depressive and i have an anxiety disorder

so it is possible that it can and what you have described sounds more like a panic disorder then it does an anxiety disorder but i could be wrong

now there are bad side effects of Anti-Depressants but it varies Because everyone is different

i have personally taken prozac and it helped and it could help you too but as previously said it could be totally different for you

http://www.healthcentral.com/anxiety/fin...

that is some info on the medication

my dad said buspar is good he said its an anti-anxiety/anti-depressant and it doesnt really make you suicidal or anything

I can't remember if it's anxiety that leads to depression or depression to anxiety, but Depression and anxiety are very common together. I actually have both but can't remember what came first. The only real way to figure out what caused it is to go to a psychologist who can lead you through excercises that will help you find the cause, it's different for everyone, but this is the only true cure. Meds to help however!! And meds are a great option to help get you "back to normal" before beginning any other treatments. I was put on Lexapro which is and anti-depressant and anti-anxiety med and it works great. As for side effects, they come with any medication, and they range from mild to severe, with severe being very uncommon. Most deal with stomach problems like indigestion, loose stool or constipation, stuff like that. Just listen to your doctor and let him answer any questions or concerns you have even if you think they are silly, they are the experts.

NO. you may have comorbidity but that is not a CAUSE. You know these things there might not be any exact cause, people say it's genetic, some say environmental, some say stressor. But most of the time you're just prone and you develop.

Anxiety disorder is a spectrum btw. It includes panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, phobic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, etc.

Every drug has side effect. And different drugs have different side effects. We need to know what drug you're taking before commenting on what side effects it has.

I don't know which happens first but I have both, anxiety and depression. Try deep breathing exercises and get busy. Walking is good for depression and heart functions. Try some natural herbs that are good for the heart and breathing.
Get a hobby and try not stressing. Take things easier that stress you out. There are side effects to anti depressive meds. They can make you feel suicidal or think of killing someone, they do lay you back but too much, even small dosage, they can cause weight gain from being laid back, and make you feel unmotivated. They change your personality.

Depression and anxiety overlap quite a bit. Both are related to malfunction of neurotransmitters like Serotonin and Epinephrine.

I have had symptoms of both depression and anxiety for so long now that they seem like pretty much the same thing to me.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) does acknowledge that people with depressive symptoms may also have symptoms of anxiety.

I get the impression that psychiatric diagnoses aren't necessarily a really cut and dried thing. The psychiatrist just comes up with a diagnosis that fits the symptoms and and gives medication that hopefully treats these symptoms successfully. Several medications work on both depression and anxiety at the same time.

My underlying diagnosis is supposed to be either Major Depression, Recurrent or Dysthymic Disorder (chronic low level depression); but I have gone for years at a time with no symptoms of depression at all, only symptoms of anxiety, but my doctor did not change my diagnosis to an anxiety disorder.

I have been around psychiatrists a lot through work and I have found that many of them don't think the particular diagnosis is really that important as long as the treatment is working on the symptoms.