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.
Anxiety can be the result of a number of genetic predisposition, a painful childhood, major stress or factors — trauma, medical illness, alcohol or drug abuse—and can also occur for no obvious or apparent reason.
A predisposition to anxiety can be hereditary. Serotonin and other brain chemicals are affected by our genes, as well as by our attitudes, experiences, and spirit. The risk of panic attacks is about eight times higher among close relatives than in the general population. Life is full of stressful events, many of which cannot and should not be avoided, which can trigger anxiety in those who are susceptible.
As with many illnesses, such as heart disease and diabetes, anxiety disorders can run in the family. Children who receive the affected gene are more vulnerable to anxiety than others.
Genetics and Anxiety Disorders
What makes people susceptible to a hypersensitive amygdala is complex, but genetics can play a role. Research has identified a gene on chromosome 17 that contributes to neuroticism and a gene on chromosome 22 appears to be linked to obsessive-compulsive disorder.
About 40 percent of people with agoraphobia have a relative with an anxiety disorder. Also, if one of a pair of identical twins suffers from panic disorder, there is a 40 percent chance the other suffers as well. Having the genes for an anxiety disorder does not mean that heredity is destiny. Environmental factors and a resilient spirit are just as important.
Many people with a genetic predisposition do not develop an anxiety disorder, while others without a family history do so. An interplay of biological, behavioral, and psychosocial factors determines whether or not anxiety becomes a problem. Of course, as Vladimir Nabokov writes, ”Neither in environment nor in heredity can I find the exact instrument that fashioned me.”
Environmental Factors and Influence of Other People
Physical, emotional, and sexual abuse are known precipitants of anxiety. If guilt, shame, fear, and hostility were regularly used by parents to control a child’s behavior, that child is more likely to grow up fearful and lacking in confidence. Family-of-origin difficulties can be a cause of unconscious conflict and chronic anxiety.
Studies indicate that anxious people are very susceptible to taking on the negative emotions of those around them. Whenever you feel anxious, check to see if you are in the presence of a complainer. When you can’t move away or ?nd a more positive conversational focus, you might put on an imaginary emotional raincoat, or create a picture of protecting yourself from the energy-depleting rain of words. In this way you are likely to be less vulnerable to contagious negativity.
The other person’s mood has little or nothing to do with you. When you allow hurtful or irritating words to get inside you and fester, you are torturing yourself needlessly.
Attention Deficit Disorder
Attention deficit disorder (ADD)—being easily distracted and having difficulty paying attention—and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)—also being fidgety, aggressive, and “bouncing off the walls”—may overlap with anxiety and depression.
There are probably multiple causes of these symptom complexes—genetic, neurological, temperamental, nutritional, and social. ADD/ADHD is the most common psychiatric diagnosis in childhood.
About 50 percent of these children continue to have attention and behavioral problems in adolescence (such as juvenile delinquency, drug abuse, and school difficulties), and 25 percent continue to have persistent symptoms into adulthood. education, behavioral strategies, dietary changes, and synthetic drugs can be of benefit.
Herbal remedies can be helpful in the treatment of ADD/ADHD when used with other supportive measures (see chapter 14). Certainly more natural medicines should be considered before automatically dosing a child or adolescent with Ritalin (methylphenidate), an addictive drug that can have significant side effects and unknown long-term consequences.
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