Causes
of Anxiety Disorder
Of
course, if you knew
the cause of your
anxiety, it would be
much easier to treat
it,
right?
Too
often, there are
multiple causes and
risk factors for
anxiety in your life.
However, mental
health professionals
have narrowed the
field to a few larger
potential causes for
the feelings you may
be
having:
•
Your brain
chemistry
Very often, the way your
brain does (or does not)
produce chemicals can cause
you to feel more anxiety
than someone else might.
There are several schools
of thought on this. Some
believe that its' a problem
of serotonin levels not
being maintained, thus
causing more depressive and
fear-based reactions to
stress. Others believe that
it's merely an adrenaline
imbalance causing the
troubles with anxiety.
Either way, there are ways
to test and see if your
brain chemistry is
'off.'
•
Genetics
If someone else in your
family has a history of
anxiety, you are certainly
at a greater risk of
developing anxiety too.
While there isn't a
specific anxiety gene, the
heredity link seems to be
fairly consistent in case
studies. Of course, the
case could be made that
those living in the same
families may also simply
have learned the same
behaviors and reactions to
stress.
•
Environment
Where you grow up and how
you are taught to handle
stress often plays a big
role in whether you too
will have troubles managing
your own anxiety. If you
are taught that certain
things are frightening, you
may believe that they are,
even if they are not.
Likewise, if you live in an
area that isn't safe, you
might have higher levels of
anxiety.
•
Past negative
experiences
Sexual
traumas, military
service, rapes,
incest and other
painful experiences
can also lead to
problems with anxiety
later in life. Even
if you feel that you
have dealt with these
issues or that you
can 'get over it,'
you may still have
troubles feeling
comfortable in
similar
situations.
•
Illness
Whether you are sick or a
loved one is sick, anxiety
levels can rise
exponentially during this
sort of crisis
time.
•
Deaths
The death of a loved one is
another common cause of
anxiety.
Narrowing down the cause
for you might take time,
but when you are able to
determine the trigger for
your anxiety response, you
will be better able to
respond to it in a positive
manner.
Plus,
you will be able to avoid
the situations where you
feel the most anxiety or
you can learn to react in a
different manner to
them.
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