What Causes Anxiety Disorder To Develop

Feeling anxious or nervous is a natural reaction to stressful situations. Anxiety in itself is a normal emotion and one that is necessary to help us cope. It makes us respond to danger and helps us to be alert. Having fearful thoughts and rushes of adrenaline when in a problematic situation while stressful is normal. However, when anxiety occurs when the situation isn’t one of apparent danger, this can be an indication that stress is impacting our mental health as our reactions are disproportionate to the moment we find ourselves in. What we perceive to be danger and how our bodies respond isn’t based in fact, but controlled and influenced by thoughts and emotions. These negative thoughts, if left unchallenged, can lead us to develop an anxiety disorder.

This day and age, we are under more stress than ever. Whether it’s our personal lives, our jobs, the impacts of society, money concerns or our health, all these pressures impact our mental health if we can’t healthily process and de-stress

What is Anxiety Disorder?

There are different types of anxiety disorder: e.g. Generalised Anxiety Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder. However, not all Anxiety can be neatly categorised yet can still disrupt daily life. Anxiety disorder is generally understood as having episodes of sometimes crippling worry and fear that affect your ability to function. These feelings then trigger a physical reaction, causing symptoms that are identifiable as anxiety response. In some cases, the feelings and symptoms can escalate, becoming a panic attack. Not all people with anxiety disorder suffer from regular panic attacks, but anxiety can still greatly affect how we behave, act and feel towards the world around us. Anxiety can start to affect our work and our social lives.

What are the symptoms of Anxiety?

Everyone experiences the symptoms of anxiety differently. We respond to the feelings of fear and worry in different ways as we develop our own coping mechanisms. However, most of the physical symptoms are the same because during an anxiety attack, we react as if we are in danger. The main sign will be a racing heartbeat and shortness of breath.

These are the most common symptoms of anxiety:

• Strong feelings of intense fear and worry
• Persistent feelings of doom and danger
• An inability to stay calm
• Heart palpitation or a elevated heart rate
• Sweating and trembling
• Trouble sleeping
• Difficulties with concentration or making decisions

The symptoms of anxiety disorder have a lot in common with stress. The difference being is that when stressed, the symptoms are only temporary and abate when no longer in the situation. With an anxiety disorder, people experience the symptoms over an extended period. Eventually, they will avoid situations where they could potentially get anxious.

What causes Anxiety Disorder?

As with all mental disorders, there is no definitive answer. Everyone’s experience with anxiety is different, including the situations and life events that led to the condition developing in the first place. This is why Therapy is such an essential part in treating Anxiety Disorders as part of the treatment is getting to the cause and helping to challenge the root of the problem. There are many different social and environmental factors that can lead to anxiety. Many of them are unavoidable – such as work stress, homelife and societal pressures. Some disorders can arise from traumatic events, causing anxiety to become part of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

These are the most common, general causes for anxiety:

Past experiences

In many cases, anxiety stems from traumatic events during childhood. Going through a difficult experience when young means living with those memories for a long time. Thoughts and feelings that arise from those experiences become second nature, affecting how you act and behave. Common traumatic experiences include:

• Bullying
• Physical and emotional abuse
• Losing a loved one
• Experiencing discrimination
• Childhood neglect

Present problems

Persistent stress and present challenging situations can cause anxiety. If you are in a hostile environment, day in and day out, it can trigger anxiety. This could be your working environment or your living environment. Worries about money, about being able to afford rent, relationship problems, pressure at work and emotional hardships such as bereavement and separation all can lead to anxiety.

Drugs and alcohol abuse

Anxiety can develop as a result of depending on drugs and alcohol as a way to deal with a highly stressful life. People may think that alcohol helps them to relax after a hard day at work, but in fact it can make you feel worse the following day. It’s important to have a healthy support system in place to help you destress. There is always help on hand with many NHS schemes in place to help people who wish to stop drinking or using drugs.

How is Anxiety treated?

While anxiety disorders can impact daily lives, it is possible to live a completely functional and healthy life. Getting control back can take some time and hard work, but mental conditions are treatable. Most anxiety disorders can be managed through the assistance of a psychotherapist. As anxiety can often be a reaction to a past event, it can be hard to separate past experiences with present ones when there are similarities. Therapy works to uncover the cause of the anxiety and to structure a system that helps you to challenge the thoughts that lead to the anxiety developing.

Medication can also help with controlling the symptoms of anxiety. Speaking with a GP can help you look into medication options as well as arranging to have therapy.

How to get help with coping with Anxiety Disorder

If you feel as if anxiety is becoming a problem, help is on hand. Talking to someone is the first step, whether a friend or family member. Having the support of someone close to you can help when seeking out professional treatment. When it comes to treatment, there are different options depending on what will suit you best. Visiting a doctor is a good start to introduce what’s available to you and to arrange any referrals to a therapist. Having therapy is essential to understanding your mental health and work on uncovering the cause of the anxiety. Through learning techniques, you can challenge the negative thoughts that trigger the anxiety. Regular sessions give you a safe environment to talk about your feelings and concerns.