3 Common Factors that Triggers Anxiety
Anxiety. Not a few times have we encountered this term and somehow it became a catchword that has been uttered like a mantra in various circles. But what really is anxiety and what causes it?
According to Wikipedia, anxiety or generalized anxiety disorder or GAD is “characterized by excessive, exaggerated anxiety and worry about everyday life events with no obvious reasons for worry.” This means that most of us have experienced and are still experiencing this type of disorder on a regular basis. A common trait of people who are experiencing a generalized anxiety disorder is sort of paranoia about disasters. A person with anxiety disorder will never cease to worry about a number of things such as financial condition, health, work, school, career, family, and gazillion types of mundane things. The catch, however, is: these worries are, most of the time, not real or are real but blown out of proportion. This gives a new angle to the phrase “making a mountain out of a mole hill.”
Despite its seemingly pedestrian nature, at least on the surface, experts still have not discovered the precise roots or cause of generalized anxiety disorder. At least, none of them have fully known its cause. However, a number of factors have been pinpointed by experts as the leading causes of generalized anxiety disorder. The most common causes that contribute to the development of GAD, among many others, are genetics, brain chemistry and environmental stresses. Let us go through them one by one.
3 Common Causes of Generalized Anxiety Disorder:
A number of authoritative medical and scientific research findings suggest that anxiety may be genetic. Certain family histories contribute to the development of generalized anxiety disorder in a particular person. In short, an anxiety disorder can be passed through the genes. So if your grandpa has a history of extremely worrying about the red menace in the 50s, this may explain why you felt the urge to dive and hide under the table every time your naughty officemate hollers “Stalin!”
- Brain chemistry
Based on extensive research, experts believe that generalized anxiety disorder can be linked to the abnormal levels of specific neurotransmitters in the brain. Neurotransmitter functions like our brain’s instant messengers. They transfer information from nerve cell to nerve cell. An imbalanced neurotransmitter, therefore, results into a miscommunication of nerve cells. This is why the brain fails to react appropriately on certain situations.
- Environmental factors
Another factor that may have contributed to a person’s anxiety disorder is his or her environment. Traumatic or very stressful events like a car accident, physical abuse and frequent changing of one’s residence may result to severe GAD. This type of anxiety often heightens when triggered by stressful situations of similar nature.
These are three of the most common causes of anxiety. Actually, there are many more stressors that can suddenly turn one into a rabid worry-freak. One piece of advice: chill.