Anxiety can become progressively disabling at work and in personal relationships. Anxious people have frequent feelings of guilt and worthlessness about not being able to cope successfully with situations that other people have no difficulty with and about being dependent on family and friends, thereby restricting their lives.

The longer anxiety persists without effective treatment, the more likely it is that those who suffer will become depressed. As anxiety becomes progressively more disabling, it can significantly hamper the ability to live a full and enjoyable life.

Recent scientific research suggests that anxiety is the result of a biochemical imbalance in the brain’s alarm center—the amygdala—and a psychological imbalance in thinking. The combination of a biochemically overreactive amygdala and fearful, worrisome thinking causes an exaggerated and persistent stress response. As to which comes first, this is a little like the chicken-or-the-egg question. The answer is both, in a circular pattern of causation. This is the mind-body principle: every change in the mind (anxiety) produces a corresponding change in the body (alarm) and vice versa.