Causes for Anxiety Disorder

Tap to Read ➤ Reshma Jirage

Anxiety disorder is a group of mental illnesses, which is caused by physical, biological or psychological factors. As it can affect your health and overall lifestyle, you need to understand exact cause for anxiety disorder and get appropriate treatment.

Every human being has certain feelings such as happiness, sadness, anger, love etc. Anxiety is also a part of normal life and it is beneficial under certain circumstances. It enhances alertness and makes the body to get ready for actions.

If a person has to face with unfamiliar challenges, then he/she is spurred by anxiety to get ready for upcoming event. Anxiety disorder is a group of mental illnesses that make people to suffer from abnormal feelings of nervousness and excessive worry.

It is one of the most common emotional disorders, which is characterized by some emotional and physical symptoms such as fear, panic, apprehension, nightmares, uncontrolled obsessive thoughts, repeated flashbacks of traumatic experiences, sleep disturbances, muscular tension, racing heartbeat, cold or clammy hands and gastrointestinal upset.

Causes: An Overview

There are several factors that can contribute to development of anxiety disorder such as biological factors, childhood environment, stress overload, thought patterns, lifestyle factors and genetic factors.

➤ Life issues : Anxiety disorder in children may be because of highly perfectionist or overly critical parents. If children are not appreciated any way, then they might react with anxious behavior.

Insomnia and stress can be possible causes of anxiety disorder. Witnessing a major accident or violent attack also can be a cause of anxiety disorder. Distressing thoughts, nightmares and emotional numbness are major symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

➤ Physical characteristics : Anxiety disorder may be hereditary, that means children of highly sensitive parents are more anxious. Chemical imbalances in brain, fight or flight response are also among possible causes of anxiety disorder.

Some medical conditions such as hypoglycemia can lead to anxiety. Anxious people may show strong reactions to aspartame, amphetamines, caffeine and other stimulants.

➤ Environmental factors : Some environmental factors are likely to responsible for developing anxiety disorder. They include trauma and stressful events, divorce, death of beloved one and change in school or job.

➤ Personality : According to researches, personality plays a major role in developing anxiety disorder. People having poor coping skills and low self-esteem are more prone to anxiety disorder. Constantly negative thinking can also give rise to anxiety disorder symptoms.

Anxiety disorder may lead to low self-esteem, fear of rejection, extreme feeling of loneliness and helplessness. Many people may develop a panic disorder due to major life stress like financial problems, relationship problems, moving home, physical illness, loss of employment etc. Proper diagnosis of anxiety disorder is essential for proper treatment plan.

Diagnosis and Treatment

Symptoms are evaluated by asking few questions about medical history along with physical examination. Although there are no specific laboratory tests for diagnosis of anxiety disorders, various tests are prescribed to find out physical illness responsible for symptoms.

Anxiety disorder is treated using medications like tranquilizers and cognitive behavioral therapy. You can control or reduce the symptoms by decreasing consumption of stimulants, daily exercise, healthy and balanced diet. It is necessary to find out exact cause of anxiety disorder so that it can be treated earlier and in a proper way.