Breaking the Anxiety-Depression Cycle: A Holistic Understanding

When You Can't Tell If You're Coming or Going

There's a particular exhaustion that comes with cycling between anxiety and depression. Maybe you recognize the pattern: periods where you're wound tight with worry, your mind racing through worst-case scenarios, your body tense and ready for disaster. Then, seemingly without warning, the energy drains away completely. The anxiety fades but what replaces it feels worse. A flatness. A heaviness. An inability to care about anything at all.

Whether you're reading this from Toronto or anywhere else in the developed world, you're far from alone in experiencing this cycle. Research shows that between 67% and 75% of people with a depressive disorder have a current or lifetime comorbid anxiety disorder, and between 63% and 81% of people with an anxiety disorder have a current or lifetime depressive disorder. These aren't separate problems happening to occur together. They're intimately connected parts of a larger pattern.

What Anxiety Actually Means

From a holistic mental health perspective, anxiety is a warning sign. Your nervous system is alerting you to risk or danger, either in your external environment or in your internal experience.

At its core, anxiety is your system saying: "I don't have what I need to handle everything going on here." Or perhaps more specifically: "I don't have the internal resources or skills I need to meet my life the way it's unfolding."

This is different from how anxiety is often framed in conventional mental health. Anxiety isn't a malfunction. It's meaningful communication. When you're anxious or stressed, your nervous system is upregulating to give you the energy and alertness you need to deal with threats, pressures, or demands.

Research confirms that all types of anxiety symptoms predict later depressive symptoms, and importantly, all types of depressive symptoms predict later anxiety symptoms. The relationship between these states is bidirectional and deeply interconnected.

(You can also learn more about anxiety & hypnotherapy here.)

Understanding the Cycle

Here's what the anxiety-depression cycle actually looks like from a holistic perspective:

Your nervous system upregulates into anxiety to give you the energy you need to meet stressors, handle pressures, or deal with risks you're perceiving either consciously or subconsciously.

You're flooded with stress hormones. Your heart rate increases. Your thoughts speed up. You feel driven to do something, fix something, solve something.

But here's the problem: you probably don't actually have the internal resources, skills, or patterns you need to address what's creating the anxiety. So all that mobilized energy gets expended without creating any lasting resolution.

Sometimes that energy gets burned through frantic activity. Sometimes it gets used up moving from distraction to distraction to distraction, trying to ignore the signals because you don't have the skills to do something more constructive or generative.

Eventually, the system runs completely out of energy. You've spent everything trying to manage, fix, or escape, and nothing has worked to help you feel better long-term. Then comes the sharp downregulation. The crash. The "don't do anything" state that we call depression.

This is why studies show that in 57% of cases where anxiety and depression are comorbid, anxiety preceded depression. The anxiety comes first as your system tries to mobilize resources. Depression follows when those efforts fail and your system essentially gives up.

What Keeps You Stuck

Several factors maintain this exhausting cycle:

Beliefs about how things must be done. You learned somewhere along the way that you need to handle everything perfectly, never show weakness, always stay in control, never burden others. These beliefs keep you trying in ways that deplete you without actually working.

Ingrained patterns without healthier alternatives. You're operating from the only patterns you know. If you weren't taught healthy ways to regulate your nervous system, process emotions, or ask for support, you'll default to patterns that maintain the cycle.

Unprocessed experiences from the past. Very often, old unresolved experiences are informing everything. Childhood experiences that taught you the world wasn't safe, relationships that confirmed you couldn't trust others, moments when your needs weren't met. Research demonstrates that comorbidity of depression and anxiety is associated with more childhood trauma, with these early experiences creating vulnerability patterns that persist into adulthood.

Lack of skills to work with thoughts and feelings. Many people simply were never taught healthy skills to relate to their own internal experience. They don't understand their thoughts and feelings, don't know how to work with them, don't even know how to let go of them. This makes everything feel worse and more overwhelming.

The Nervous System Piece

The two branches of your autonomic nervous system, the sympathetic and parasympathetic, are operating in ways you don't understand and don't know how to work with.

Research shows that people with anxiety and depression experience significant autonomic nervous system dysregulation, with lower autonomic balance indicating sympathetic dominance being associated with higher depressive and anxiety symptoms.

More specifically, autonomic dysregulation mediates the relationship between depression and symptoms like fatigue and cognitive impairment. Your body and mind aren't betraying you. They're doing exactly what they've learned to do in response to threat. The problem is that the threat signals never turn off.

When your nervous system stays activated, when the sympathetic "fight or flight" response remains dominant without adequate parasympathetic "rest and digest" recovery, you feel like you're living in a state of constant emergency. Which then makes you feel even worse, which activates more anxiety, which eventually leads to more exhaustion and depression.

The cycle feeds itself.

The Research on Hypnotherapy for Breaking the Cycle

The evidence supporting hypnotherapy for both anxiety and depression is substantial and growing stronger.

For anxiety specifically, a meta-analysis found that the average participant doing hypnotherapy reduced anxiety more than about 79% of control participants at the end of treatment, with effects strengthening at follow-up where participants treated with hypnosis improved more than about 84% of control participants.

For depression, meta-analytic evidence shows that the average participant doing hypnotherapy showed more improvement than about 76% of control participants, with benefits persisting at follow-up.

A comprehensive overview of meta-analyses found that nearly all effects of hypnotherapy (99.2%) were positive, meaning people got better, with 25.4% being medium effect sizes and 28.8% being large effect sizes. The research consistently demonstrates that hypnotherapy works, particularly when addressing the underlying patterns rather than just managing surface symptoms.

Breaking the Cycle: What Actually Needs to Change

Talk therapy has its place, and many people find it helpful for gaining insight and understanding. But insight alone often doesn't translate into feeling better. You can understand intellectually why you're anxious or depressed without that understanding changing how you actually feel or how your nervous system responds.

The problem is that talk therapy works primarily at the conscious level. You talk about patterns, gain awareness of beliefs, develop intellectual understanding. But the patterns creating the anxiety-depression cycle operate at the subconscious level. They're wired into your nervous system through years of experience and repetition.

This is why people can spend years in talk therapy, talking it all out, getting insights, yet still cycling between anxiety and depression. The insights don't "upload" into their system. They don't translate into actually feeling differently about themselves, their thoughts, their feelings, their lives, or the circumstances they encounter.

What actually needs to change:

• Subconscious patterns and beliefs. The foundational beliefs about yourself, others, and the world that developed from early experiences. These beliefs operate automatically, shaping your perceptions and responses before conscious thought even gets involved.

• Nervous system regulation. Learning how your autonomic nervous system works, how to recognize its states, and how to work with it rather than against it. Developing the capacity to help your system move between activation and rest appropriately.

• Emotional processing skills. The ability to be present with difficult thoughts and feelings without being overwhelmed by them. Learning to feel your feelings fully while trusting you can handle them, rather than constantly trying to escape or suppress them.

• Internal resources and self-trust. Building genuine confidence that you have what you need internally to navigate challenges. Developing the knowing that you can rely on yourself, that you're capable and resilient, that you can handle whatever comes up.

How Hypnotherapy Works Differently

Hypnotherapy works at the deepest levels out. We don't just manage symptoms. We address the root causes in the place that matters most: the subconscious.

In the hypnotic state, we can:

• Access and transform foundational beliefs. The beliefs that developed from childhood experiences about whether you're safe, capable, worthy, lovable. We can bring these beliefs into awareness, understand how they formed, and begin reshaping them into beliefs that actually support your wellbeing.

• Process unresolved experiences. The old hurts, losses, traumas, and disappointments that your nervous system is still carrying. These experiences continue creating anxiety signals even though they're in the past. Processing them allows your system to finally let them go.

• Develop new nervous system patterns. Your nervous system can learn new patterns of regulation. New baseline states. New ways of responding to stress that don't involve cycling between anxious hyperarousal and depressive shutdown.

• Build genuine internal resources. Not just intellectually understanding that you're capable, but actually feeling it at a deep level. Developing the embodied knowing that you can trust yourself to handle challenges.

• Create new emotional skills. Learning to be present with your experience rather than constantly running from it. Building capacity to feel without being overwhelmed. Developing the ability to process emotions as they arise rather than storing them until they become unbearable.

The work happens from the deepest subconscious levels all the way out to your daily responses, reactions, and behaviors. This is why people report not just feeling differently, but living differently. The changes integrate throughout your whole system.

(You can also learn more about beliefs & where they come from here.)

A Holistic Approach to All the Factors

Because we're always looking holistically at the whole person, breaking the anxiety-depression cycle means addressing all the factors that contribute to it:

Unprocessed experiences from your history. The childhood experiences that taught you certain things about yourself, others, and the world. The losses and hurts that were never fully grieved or resolved. The moments when your needs weren't met or your feelings weren't acknowledged.

Beliefs and patterns formed from those experiences. How those early experiences shaped what you believe and how you operate. The automatic ways you perceive situations, the reflexive emotional responses, the habitual behaviors that maintain the cycle.

Nervous system dysregulation. Learning to work with your autonomic nervous system rather than being controlled by it. Understanding its signals, developing regulation skills, creating new patterns of activation and rest.

Relationship with your own internal experience. Developing healthy skills to relate to your thoughts and feelings. Learning to be curious about them rather than afraid of them. Building capacity to hold difficult emotions without being destroyed by them.

Lifestyle and habits. Sleep, nutrition, movement, daily routines. The practical factors that either support or undermine your nervous system's capacity to regulate. Research shows omega-3 fatty acids and other nutritional support can significantly impact both anxiety and depression,[8] making nutrition part of a comprehensive approach.

External circumstances and stressors. Sometimes people are cycling between anxiety and depression because their actual life circumstances are genuinely overwhelming. While we can't always change external situations immediately, we can develop the internal resources to navigate them differently.

What Makes This Approach Different From Symptom Management

Mainstream psychotherapeutic approaches tend to mainy focus on managing symptoms.

Anxious? Take an anxiolytic. Depressed? Take an antidepressant. Cycling between both? Take both medications.

For some people in acute crisis, this symptom management can be valuable. But it doesn't address why you're anxious and depressed in the first place. It doesn't resolve the patterns, beliefs, unprocessed experiences, or nervous system dysregulation creating the symptoms.

The holistic hypnotherapy approach is fundamentally different because we're getting to the heart of it. We're making deep changes in the subconscious patterns that generate the cycle. We're addressing root causes rather than just dampening symptoms.

This takes more engagement than swallowing a pill. It requires being willing to look at difficult material, feel uncomfortable feelings, and develop new ways of being. But it creates the possibility of actually breaking the cycle rather than just managing it indefinitely.

Many people find that after doing this deeper work, they no longer need medication. Or if they continue medication, they're using it as one support among many rather than as their sole approach.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to break the anxiety-depression cycle?

This varies significantly based on individual circumstances. Some people notice meaningful shifts within 4-6 sessions. Others require longer work, particularly if there's significant trauma history or deeply entrenched patterns. Generally, expect a minimum of 8-12 sessions for substantive work with the cycle, though many people benefit from longer-term support. The goal isn't quick fixes. The goal is lasting change.

Can hypnotherapy help if I've been cycling between anxiety and depression for years?

Absolutely. In fact, people who have been stuck in this pattern for years often respond particularly well to hypnotherapy because they're highly motivated to try something different. The duration of the pattern doesn't determine your capacity to change it. What matters is addressing the root causes that maintain it.

Do I need to stop my medication to do hypnotherapy?

Not at all. Hypnotherapy can be done alongside medication. Many people find that as they progress with hypnotherapy and develop new patterns, they're able to work with their prescribing physician to reduce or discontinue medication. But this should always be done under medical supervision, never abruptly. Some people choose to continue medication while adding hypnotherapy. There's no one right approach. It is important to keep in mind, that very often the side effects of many of the medications for anxiety and depression include: anxiety and/or depression. This is an important thing to know about your particular medication if you are on one.

What if I don't know why I'm anxious or depressed?

You don't need to know. In fact, part of what makes hypnotherapy powerful is that we can access and work with subconscious patterns even when you don't consciously understand them. You don't need to have it all figured out before starting. The work itself reveals what needs to be addressed.

Taking the Next Step

If you're exhausted from cycling between anxiety and depression, if you're tired of just managing symptoms without addressing what's actually creating them, if you're ready to develop the internal resources to navigate life differently, then this holistic approach might be exactly what you need.

The work requires courage and commitment. It means engaging with difficult material and developing new patterns. But it also creates the possibility of actually breaking free from the cycle rather than just learning to tolerate it.

At Toronto Hypnotherapy, we offer a comprehensive approach that combines evidence-based hypnotherapy with somatic awareness, nervous system education, and support for all the factors maintaining the anxiety-depression cycle. We look at your whole history, your whole life, all the pieces that have led to where you are now.

Whether you're currently stuck in the cycle, noticing the early signs of it developing, or feeling like your attempts to manage it aren't working anymore, this approach can help you understand what's happening and develop what you need to move forward.

Ready to explore breaking the anxiety-depression cycle? 

We offer a free 15-minute consultation call where we can discuss your situation and determine if this holistic approach is right for you.

You can book your free consultation call here.

References & Citations

• Lamers F, van Oppen P, Comijs HC, et al. Comorbidity patterns of anxiety and depressive disorders in a large cohort study: the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA). J Clin Psychiatry. 2011;72(3):341-348. PubMed: 21294994

• Jacobson NC, Newman MG. Anxiety and depression as bidirectional risk factors for one another: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Psychol Bull. 2017;143(11):1155-1200. PubMed: 28805400

• Siegel EH, Sands MK, Van den Noortgate W, et al. Cross system autonomic balance and regulation: Associations with depression and anxiety symptoms. Psychophysiology. 2021;58(3):e13693. PubMed: 33460174

• Thomas B, Pattinson R, Bundy C, Davies JL. Autonomic dysregulation, cognition and fatigue in people with depression and in active and healthy controls: observational cohort study. BJPsych Open. 2023;9(4):e96. Cambridge Core

• Valentine KE, Milling LS, Clark LJ, Moriarty CL. The Efficacy of Hypnosis as a Treatment for Anxiety: A Meta-Analysis. Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2019;67(3):336-363. PubMed: 31251710

• Shih MY, Jales KS, Lee YA, et al. A Meta-Analysis of Hypnotic Interventions for Depression Symptoms: High Hopes for Hypnosis? Am J Clin Hypn. 2022;64(2):102-115. PubMed: 34874235

• Svendsen JL, Pedersen LM, Poulsen S, Lunn S, Sjøgren JM. Meta-analytic evidence on the efficacy of hypnosis for mental and somatic health issues: a 20-year perspective. Front Psychol. 2023;14:1330238. PMC: 10807512

• Mehdi S, Manohar K, Shariff A, et al. Omega-3 Fatty Acids Supplementation in the Treatment of Depression: An Observational Study. J Pers Med. 2023;13(2):224. PMC: 9962071