It is only natural to feel sad or worried sometimes. Anyone who is a parent worries about their children. Anyone who has lost someone would have a shed a tear. That is normal and unavoidable. It happens to everyone and if you can say 'not me mate' then all I can say to you is 'It will, just as sure as God made little green apples'.

However, when you worry all the time about every little thing and you are always sad then maybe, just maybe, you have a concern with anxiety and or depression. It can affect how you act, how you think, how you feel about yourself and how you relate to others. It is only when you realise what the heck is going on and recognise some of the signs, can you start to do something about it.

You might think to yourself that you are the only one who is feeling or experiencing these feelings of depression and or anxiety. However, depression and anxiety are among the most common mental health issues experienced by young people today. Experts estimate that about 20% to 25% of people in the world will at some stage in their lives experience anxiety or surrender to the battle with depression. Some poor souls go through both.You are not alone.

What thoughts are going through your head on a daily basis? Are you a positive or negative thinker? I'll sometimes have a chat with someone and come away feeling exhausted. The reason is the everything they talk about is dark and dreary. Things were getting worse for them and they could see nothing improving in the future. They regret so many things they have done in the past and feel they are an absolute failure.

Others I come across are so worried about what others think of them that they have trouble enjoying life. They are too scared to say "boo" around people or to try to do something new in case they make a mistake. It is how you think that affects the way you feel. It also affects the way you behave.

Someone who wanders around thinking negatively all day is going to behave in a similar fashion. They will tend

to move around slowly, lack motivation to do anything and tend to withdraw from their friends and family. Someone who is worried about everything will be fidgety, nervous looking and tend to avoid mixing with people or going into crowds.

Thinking like that all the time is eventually going to take its toll on the body. Some of the more common physical symptoms are the change in sleep patterns, change in appetite, bodily functions and energy levels. These symptoms may not be so obvious to others but everyone knows their own body and when things are amiss.

Odds are that when you are down, troubled, bothered, agitated or distressed for any length of time, people around you are going to be affected whether you intend it to happen or not. Without knowing it, you could be more sensitive about what people say to you. You may be irritable all the time. You tend not to communicate. You are so shy that you tend to avoid social activities all together. It takes its toll on the people you know and usually more so on the people you love the most.

If you can relate to anything that has been mentioned above then the first task is to sort out the signs of your depression and anxiety. When you figure out how it affects your thinking, your feelings, your relationships and your physical being then you can begin to meet the challenge of overcoming the obstacles or the reasons for your problems. If you struggle with anxiety or depression or both then just remember that you are not the lone stranger in all of this. This malady is a lot more common and widespread than you think.