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What Are Some Causes Of Anxiety

What Causes Generalised Anxiety Disorder

Stressors | Causes of Stress & How it affects your body Dr.Berg

The exact cause of GAD is not fully understood, although it’s likely that a combination of several factors plays a role.

Research has suggested that these may include:

  • overactivity in areas of the brain involved in emotions and behaviour
  • an imbalance of the brain chemicals serotonin and noradrenaline, which are involved in the control and regulation of mood
  • the genes you inherit from your parents you’re estimated to be 5 times more likely to develop GAD if you have a close relative with the condition
  • having a history of stressful or traumatic experiences, such as domestic violence, child abuse or bullying
  • having a painful long-term health condition, such as arthritis
  • having a history of drug or alcohol misuse

But many people develop GAD for no apparent reason.

Feeling That Everything Needs To Be Done Just So

Perfectionism can be a major driver of anxiety. And for many, it’s an unexpected trigger from an underlying perfectionism traitthey might not even have seen themselves as perfectionistic.

Brown tells Health that you might be able to anticipate such a trigger if you see yourself saying things like, “I can start on that task when all of these things come together. That will make it easier for me to do it I can start on that task and have the time to really dive into it the right wayor the resources to dive into it the right way.”

Some Of The Most Common Causes Of Anxiety Are As Follows:

  • Hereditary Causes: one of the most common causes of anxiety is your heredity, and how it runs in your family. The likelihoods of getting affected by anxiety is more if your family has a history of anxiety and panic attack sufferers.

  • Stress: this is one of the leading factors that can become the primary cause of anxiety. This includes physical, emotional or chemical factors that cause uncontrollable bodily or mental tension, and is the right mental condition to manifest as into one of the chief causes of anxiety and panic attacks.

  • Foods and drinks: Even some of the foods you take or substances you drink may lead to a mental state. This gives rise to anxiety, and this is usually due to allergic or irritational effects of the food item or drinks you have taken in.

  • Excess consumption of Caffeine: Caffeine that is present in the coffee you drink normally can be a stimulant if taken regularly. If this goes beyond a limit, the accumulation of caffeine in your body begins to show adverse reactions and this definitely leads to being one of the main causes of anxiety. This may even lead to panic attacks when the dose of caffeine present in your body exceeds all reasonable limits.

  • For no apparent reason: in most of the cases the panic attacks are unpredictable, and may take place without any apparent reason.

Also Check: How To Deal With Generalized Anxiety Disorder

What Are The Types Of Anxiety

Anxiety can present in many ways for different reasons. Anxiety can be a normal and transient response to a stressful situation, or it can become a pathological disorder. Anxiety disorders can be found in the DSM, a book used to evaluate mental health and diagnose mental illness.

Here are some of the various disorders that exist:

Anxiety disorders can also occur with other anxiety disorders, other health conditions, or health problems such as substance abuse disorder. Often anxiety disorders will affect multiple family members as their cause is genetic.

Significant Negative Life Events

Understanding The Causes Of Social Anxiety Disorder

It has been found that people with SAD frequently report negative life events, such as moving various times during childhood, having been sexually abused, parents divorce, significant illness during childhood, psychopathology of a parent, and family conflicts .

It seems as if experiences of this type represent another predisposition which increases vulnerability to developing SAD.

Also Check: How To Get Rid Of Fight Or Flight Anxiety

Why Youre Nervous Anxious Stressed On Edge Or Scared For No Reason

Do you suffer from waves of anxiety often apparently for no reason at all?Do you suddenly worry about anything and everything?Does logic not even seem to come into it?Are you feeling on edge all of a sudden or even all of the time?

You might worry that, behind your back, people call you weak or strange, but I certainly dont quite the opposite in fact.

Im so glad youve landed here to discover why you suffer from those waves of anxiety for no reason. Ill also give you some effective self-help strategies.

Just in case youre not familiar with what anxiety entails, Ill cover that now. If you already know too well, scroll on

Finding The Right Resources To Answer Your Questions And Meet Your Complex Needs

Just as anxiety and depression tend to be worse when occurring together, treatment of these disorders is most effective when both conditions are addressed at the same time.1

Hartgrove Behavioral Health System provides integrated care that treats these and other mental health issues simultaneously. As part of our comprehensive care, medical specialists and therapists work together to help bring healing and balance in our patients lives a feeling of being in charge of their inner self again.

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Fear Of Being Separated From A Loved One

Separation from a caregiver is a common trigger of anxiety for children and adolescents, but it can be an anxiety trigger for adults as well. “They often worry that some sort of harm or something untoward will happen to their attachment figures while they are separated,” according to the National Institute of Mental Health. “This fear leads them to avoid being separated from their attachment figures and to avoid being alone.”

People whose anxiety is triggered by the thought of being separated from someone may have nightmares about the separation or experience physical symptoms when the separation occurs or is anticipated.

Who Is At Risk For Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety – Causes, Symptoms, Treatment | Apollo Hospitals

A mix of genetic and environmental factors can raise a persons risk for developing anxiety disorders. You may be at higher risk if you have or had:

  • Certain personality traits, such as shyness or behavioral inhibition feeling uncomfortable with, and avoiding, unfamiliar people, situations or environments.
  • Stressful or traumatic events in early childhood or adulthood.
  • Family history of anxiety or other mental health conditions.
  • Certain physical conditions, including thyroid problems and heart arrhythmias .

Anxiety disorders occur more often in women. Researchers are still studying why that happens. It may come from womens hormones, especially those that fluctuate throughout the month. The hormone testosterone may play a role, too men have more, and it may ease anxiety. Its also possible that women are less likely to seek treatment, so the anxiety worsens.

Also Check: What Magnesium Should I Take For Anxiety

Caffeine And Anxiety Make You Feel Jittery And Nervous

Caffeine is a stimulant and that can be bad news for someone with anxiety. Caffeine’s jittery effects on your body are similar to those of a frightening event. That’s because caffeine stimulates your fight or flight response, and research has shown that this can make anxiety worse and can even trigger an anxiety attack.

Other research suggests that while caffeine can increase alertness, attention, and cognitive function, overdoing it can increase anxiety, particularly in people with panic disorder and social anxiety disorder. And as with the symptoms of anxiety, one too many cups of joe may leave you feeling nervous and moody, and can keep you up at night.

Common Signs And Symptoms Of Anxiety

Sufferers often

  • are particularly sensitive to what other people think of them.
  • worry excessively constantly mulling over the negative outcomes of the what ifs almost against their will.
  • feel frighteningly out of control of their feelings.
  • can cry for no reason.
  • experience anticipatory anxiety worrying excessively long before and about a particular event or situation.
  • tend to avoid conflict situations so as not to have to battle, both with themselves and those around them.
  • make choices based on fear, not their true wants and dreams.
  • have all kinds of unusual what they might call silly fears in other peoples eyes as well as their own.
  • suffer from sleeplessness, which affects their mood and makes ordinary tasks the following day challenging, leading to poor health and even more worries.
  • feel guilty for the impact of their anxious behaviour on their partners, childrens and even friends lives.
  • feel at times ashamed of themselves.
  • Anyone suffering from anxiety is, in my eyes, courageous they have nothing to be ashamed of.

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    Types Of Care Providers

    There are a number of different types of licensed mental health providers that can treat the range of anxiety and other related disorders.

    Primary Care Physician

    Many patients first report symptoms to their primary care physician. Primary care physicians will administer a thorough physical exam to rule out hormonal imbalances, side effects of medications, and certain illnesses. If the symptoms are not due to other conditions, the physician may diagnose the patient with anxiety and therefore refer the patient to a psychologist or psychiatrist. Physicians practice in hospitals, clinics, and private practices.

    Clinical Psychologist

    A licensed mental health specialist with a doctorate in clinical psychology who treats emotional, mental, and behavioral problems. Clinical psychologists are trained to provide counseling and psychotherapy, perform psychological testing, and provide treatment for mental disorders. They generally do not prescribe medications however, Illinois, Louisiana, and New Mexico are the only states that allow psychologists to prescribe. It is common for clinical psychologists to work in conjunction with a psychiatrist and /or a PCP who provides the medical treatment for the patients while the psychologists provide the psychotherapy. Clinical psychologists can be found at hospitals, schools, counseling centers, and group or private health care practices.

    Psychiatrist

    Psychiatric Nurse

    Clinical Social Worker

    What Are The Signs And Symptoms Of Gad

    How to spot the signs and symptoms of anxiety among students ...

    GAD develops slowly. It often starts during the teen years or young adulthood. People with GAD may:

    • Worry very much about everyday things
    • Have trouble controlling their worries or feelings of nervousness
    • Know that they worry much more than they should
    • Feel restless and have trouble relaxing
    • Have a hard time concentrating
    • Be easily startled
    • The health and well-being of their children
    • Being late
    • Completing household chores and other responsibilities

    Both children and adults with GAD may experience physical symptoms that make it hard to function and that interfere with daily life.

    Symptoms may get better or worse at different times, and they are often worse during times of stress, such as with a physical illness, during exams at school, or during a family or relationship conflict.

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    How Is Gad Diagnosed

    Generalized anxiety disorder is diagnosed by a mental health clinician who can help determine whether the symptoms your child is experiencing is related to an anxiety disorder or another medical condition. The mental health clinician will make the diagnosis following a comprehensive assessment, which includes a diagnostic with you and your child. During the assessment, parents are asked to talk about their childs anxiety symptoms and related behavior. You will also be asked to give an overview of your childs family history, medical history, social history, and social interactions. Sometimes parent or child questionnaires are used to help clarify the diagnosis.

    Calm The Nervous System

    Exercises to calm down the nervous system can help to combat symptoms of panic attacks, anxiety attacks and anxious feelings in general. This includes meditation and breathing exercises. These things help to bring the focus back into the body and bring the body into a relaxed state, instead of the fight-or-flight state that characterizes anxiety.

    Also Check: When To Get Help For Depression And Anxiety

    What Causes Anxiety Disorders

    Its a question that is so difficult to answer. Its not like having a cold – you cant simply wake up with an anxiety disorder because you forgot to wash your hands before picking your nose.

    Anxiety disorders are forged over years of experiences. They have a genetic component, an upbringing component, an environmental component. Every experience youve ever had can craft your anxiety disorder, just as any experience youve had in life can ensure you never get one.

    Anxiety may even have no real cause at all.

    There are also many forms of anxiety. There are different causes of OCD, causes of panic attacks, causes of PTSD, causes of generalized anxiety disorder, causes of phobias every experience and every anxiety is unique in some way.

    Still, the best way to understand what created your anxiety disorder is to break it down into the two main causes:

    • Biology
    • Environment

    These do not account for all anxiety symptoms. In fact, anxiety can, in some ways, create itself something that we will explore near the end of the guide. But generally, the two causes of anxiety are your body, and your experiences in the world around you.

    Our Beliefs About Ourselves: Self

    What Causes Anxiety Disorders?

    Our beliefs about ourselves and who we believe we are, directly shapes how we experience our lives and directly influences our thoughts, feelings and behaviors.

    Depending on our beliefs, our self-identity or self-image can cause an incredible amount of anxiety.

    Our self-image includes our beliefs about who we are, what we can do and how we fit into the world.

    This also includes the internal representation we hold of ourselves in our minds.

    Our beliefs about ourselves and self-image or self-identity could otherwise be known as:

    The story we tell ourselves about who we are, and how we think hope others see us.

    How we see ourselves , plays an integral role in our self-esteem and feelings of self-worth.

    This also plays an essential role in the anxiety we experience on a daily basis.

    If we see ourselves as weak or unconfident, then we will tend to actually feel and behave in weak or unconfident ways.

    This is because we act in ways that fit our self-image and disregard thoughts, feelings and experiences that do not fit that image.

    A common problem for those of us with anxiety is identifying with our anxiety. We may label ourselves as anxious or nervous and it becomes a part of who we are. This makes the feelings of anxiety a part of who we are, which makes overcoming the anxiety more difficult

    This is similar to what I mentioned above about the problem with labeling yourself as having an anxiety disorder.

    Anxiety is NOT who you are, it is a response to experience.

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    What Is Separation Anxiety Disorder

    This condition mostly happens to children or teens, who may worry about being away from their parents. Children with separation anxiety disorder may fear that their parents will be hurt in some way or not come back as promised. It happens a lot in preschoolers. But older children and adults who experience a stressful event may have separation anxiety disorder as well.

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