Treating Depression When Anxiety Symptoms Are Present: What to Know About TMS
Depression and anxiety symptoms frequently occur together, creating a complex clinical picture that can be challenging to manage with standard treatment approaches alone. Many individuals diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) also experience symptoms such as excessive worry, restlessness, heightened stress reactivity, or persistent physical tension. This overlap often raises an important clinical question: how does treatment for depression influence anxiety symptoms when both are present?
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is FDA-cleared for the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder. When TMS is used to treat depression, clinicians may observe changes in anxiety-related symptoms that commonly accompany depressive illness. Understanding why this occurs requires looking at the shared brain networks involved in mood regulation and emotional processing.
Understanding the Relationship Between Depression and Anxiety Symptoms
Although depression and anxiety are classified as distinct conditions, they frequently involve overlapping neural circuits. Both are associated with dysregulation in brain regions responsible for emotional regulation, stress response, and cognitive control. This overlap helps explain why anxiety symptoms are so commonly present in patients diagnosed with depression.
From a clinical standpoint, the presence of anxiety symptoms can increase overall symptom burden and complicate recovery. Patients with depression and prominent anxiety features often report greater distress, impaired concentration, and heightened emotional reactivity. While pharmacological treatments may reduce depressive symptoms, anxiety-related symptoms may persist or fluctuate independently.
These challenges have prompted interest in neuromodulation approaches such as TMS for FDA-cleared depression, particularly in patients whose depressive episodes include significant anxiety symptoms.
How TMS for Depression Influences Brain Networks
TMS delivers targeted magnetic stimulation to specific cortical regions involved in mood regulation and executive functioning. Standard treatment protocols focus on areas of the prefrontal cortex that play a central role in emotional regulation, decision-making, and stress modulation. Altered activity in these regions has been consistently linked to depressive symptom patterns.
By modulating prefrontal activity and its connected neural networks, TMS aims to restore more balanced communication across brain systems involved in mood regulation. These same networks are also involved in processing stress and emotional reactivity, which may help explain why clinicians often observe changes in anxiety symptoms during the course of depression-focused treatment.
Importantly, TMS treatment is directed at depression, not anxiety as a standalone condition. Any changes in anxiety symptoms are considered secondary effects related to improved regulation within shared neural systems.
Why Anxiety Symptoms May Change During TMS for Depression
The clinical relevance of TMS in patients with depression and anxiety symptoms lies in its network-level effects rather than symptom-specific targeting. Anxiety-related features such as rumination, heightened emotional sensitivity, and persistent stress responses are closely linked to prefrontal regulation of limbic structures involved in emotional processing.
As prefrontal network function improves during depression treatment, some patients may experience secondary benefits such as improved emotional stability, reduced cognitive overactivity, and greater tolerance to stress. While outcomes vary between individuals, clinical experience suggests that anxiety symptoms commonly associated with depression may lessen as depressive symptoms improve.
Clinical Observations in Patients With Depression and Anxiety Symptoms
Clinical observations indicate that patients diagnosed with depression who also experience anxiety symptoms can respond well to TMS. Improvements in mood are often accompanied by gradual reductions in anxiety severity, though the timeline for improvement may differ between symptom domains.
The presence of anxiety symptoms does not appear to preclude benefit from TMS for depression. Treatment planning focuses on the depressive diagnosis, with careful monitoring of symptom changes over time to support individualized care.
Setting Appropriate Expectations
While TMS for depression may influence anxiety-related symptoms, it is important to set appropriate expectations. Symptom improvement typically occurs over several weeks rather than immediately. Some patients may notice early improvements in mood or mental clarity, while anxiety symptoms may stabilize more gradually as neural networks adapt.
TMS is most effective when integrated into a comprehensive treatment plan that may include psychotherapy, behavioral strategies, or medication management. This coordinated approach supports both short-term symptom relief and longer-term emotional regulation.
Tolerability and Patient Experience
TMS is generally well tolerated and does not introduce systemic side effects commonly associated with medication-based treatments. Patients with prominent anxiety symptoms may be more sensitive to unfamiliar sensations early in treatment, making education and reassurance an important part of the clinical process.
With appropriate support, most patients adapt quickly, and treatment sessions are commonly described as increasingly comfortable over time.
The Importance of Reliable TMS Technology
Precision, consistency, and reliability are essential when delivering TMS for depression. Advanced systems support accurate targeting, dependable stimulation delivery, and efficient clinical workflows.
The Blossom TMS Therapy System is designed to support clinicians in delivering high-quality TMS treatment for FDA-cleared depression with consistency and accuracy. Its design aligns with modern clinical environments and supports reliable neuromodulation across a wide range of patient presentations.
Closing Perspective: Can TMS Support Patients?
For patients diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder who also experience anxiety symptoms, TMS represents an important treatment option within modern mental health care. By influencing shared neural networks involved in mood regulation, TMS for FDA-cleared depression may support meaningful improvements in overall emotional functioning when used as part of a comprehensive care approach.
Learn More About the Blossom TMS Therapy System
Phone: +1.833.328.9867
Email: Sales@sebersmedical.com
Address: 230 S Broad Street, 17th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19102
