Anxiety: Why Me?
October 21st, 2009
By Evelyn Goodman, Psy.D, LMFT, Anxiety Topic Expert Contributor
Click here to contact Evelyn and/or see her GoodTherapy.org Profile
What causes someone to develop an anxiety disorder? This question is one asked by many people struggling with an anxiety disorder, be it panic, phobias, social anxiety or any of the various manifestations of severe anxiety conditions. Someone with social anxiety might start to sweat and shake and be unable to concentrate when meeting someone new. Another person with agoraphobia might want to avoid driving a certain distance from home since that’s the circumstance of the first panic attack. However the anxiety manifests it is helpful, and part of the healing process, to understand the variables that contributes to the making of an anxiety disorder.
The development of an anxiety disorder can be looked at from a “bio-psycho-social” perspective. The “bio” is one’s genetic inheritance or inborn temperament. What one inherits is a predisposition toward anxiety, not a specific gene that predicts one will be anxious. However, temperament can be seen very early in childhood. Some babies are very sensitive to change, easily upset, extremely uncomfortable with people they don’t know well, or quiet and introverted.
The “psycho” refers to one’s background experiences, especially in early childhood and within the family. Difficult, chronically stressful or traumatic experiences in one’s growing up years creates a greater vulnerability toward severe anxiety (as well as depression, chronic pain syndromes, autoimmune disorders, and chemical dependence, to name a few conditions). These difficult and painful circumstances includes alcoholism in the family, loss of a parent due to death or divorce, rigidly strict parenting styles, criticism and the expectation of perfection, to name just a few. I will discuss this issue more in depth in a future article. Research on the brain in the last decade has shown that such conditions actually change the functioning of the brain, creating more stress-related chemicals and less neurotransmitter activity that leads to difficulties with mood and tension.
The “social” component describes the current-day stressors that one is dealing with. There is much of that in our society now: job losses, financial difficulties, health problems, marital stress and divorce. However, stress can be an event that was planned for and is desired, such as getting married, going away to college, or having a baby. Stress is the effect of change, any change, on our minds and bodies. Change necessitates new coping skills, different ways of being in the world, which is what makes life changes “stressful”. When we do not have effective coping strategies to handle the challenges of our lives, be they desired or unwanted, we set the stage for symptoms that let us know we are not coping as well as we need to. These symptoms are typically not sleeping well, more bodily aches and pains, digestive problems, tense and tight muscles, to name just a few. Then, if these warning signs are ignored, symptoms become more frequent or severe. Some of the more common forms of maladaptive coping strategies are avoidance, obsessive worrying, and controlling behaviors.
What I have just discussed can be seen this way:
Genetic Predisposition/Temperament
+
Psychological Background
+
Current Stressors
+
Ineffective Coping Strategies
=
Severe Anxiety
One does not need to have all of these conditions in order to develop an anxiety disorder. For most of the people I have worked with over the last 30 years there have existed at least several of these variables. Understanding what these variables are and how they contribute to the development of a severe anxiety condition makes one less confused and more understanding of themselves. It also helps point to what needs to be worked on in order to undo, or work oneself out of, the anxiety condition.
In future articles I will discuss in greater detail some of the ideas I have presented. Until then, I look forward to receiving any comments or questions you may have.
©Copyright 2009 by Evelyn Goodman, Psy.D, LMFT, therapist in Culver City, CA. All Rights Reserved.
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Comments
Interesting article. Thank you Evelyn. Do you feel that any one of the four components you listed there is more of a precursor to severe anxiety than another? In other words, does one carry more weight?
Evelyn, thank you for posting this. I don’t understand the difference between a stress disorder and an anxiety disorder. When I am very very stressed I have moments when I feel like I shut down from the world around me. It’s as if I’d flipped an on/off switch in my brain for a couple of minutes to give it a break from all the noise. I’m not unconscious or anything, just still. I’m aware of things going on around me.
The best I can describe it is I’m looking at it all from behind a storefront pane of glass, where the sounds and goings on nearby are muffled and the volume turned low. I’m observing but not feeling. Is that anxiety then and not stress? I have a depression dx.
Thanks for the feedback.
I don’t think one area of contribution is more significant than another. They work together in a unique way in each
individual.
Do you have any thoughts on this?
Elizabeth,
An anxiety disorder is a stress-related condition. Chronic stress can affect us in many different ways, anxiety being one manifestation, depression is another. From what you’ve written, it seems that you have a way of coping where you distance yourself from what’s going on. I can’t tell from what you’ve written whether this is helpful to you or not.
While the article is from an expert, I would say timely counseling can solve the problems of anxiety and stress. I got laid-off from my job about an year ago, and had difficulties even paying my bills… I developed a lot of stress in that period and thanks to a friend, went in for counseling and although I am in a much less-paying job today, I feel content and happy and I’m not stressed at all.
A series of events may trigger the onset of anxiety and stress in a person and these events are mostly negative and any person, when in a negative situation, does experience feelings that are very new and are bound to push him into such a feeling of anxiety or stress.
Loved the article- makes a great deal of sense. Goes to show that something like this can’t be broken down into simple nature versus nurture problems. This is a combination of a lot of different factors and a lot of it boils down to the coping mechanisms that people have and how they are able to deal with and manage stressful situations.
If the physical aspects of a human are complex, the psychological and mental aspects are much more complex. There is no single reason for making a person have a fear about something or to make a person react in a particular manner in a particular situation. There are plenty of reasons for each action and reaction of a person, and although learning everything is a very daunting task, understanding atleast a little of it can help us.
Counseling of psychotherapy can be very helpful when you are going through a very stressful time or when caught in the grip of an anxiety disorder. Understanding why and how you got to where you are is the first step. It also gives you some idea of what you may need to work on.
Hello – Do you have any advice about how to deal with a relationship with a person who has symptoms of anxiety but who has not accepted or acknowledged that there are any problems? I am dating such a person and his anxiety is getting in the way of sustained intimacy or relationship growth, but I don’t know how to help him become more aware of this. Thank you.
Letting him know how his untreated anxiety problem affects you and how it affects how you feel about the relationship is the best approach for you to take. He can then decide how to deal with that. Ultimately it’s his decision to acknowledge or change some aspect of himself.
I recently had a lot of stress in my life, my husband is in the military and we have recently moved to a place I absolutely hate. He had a choice between two places and he chose to move us to Wisconsin. It is a tiny little town and we know no one. Before we moved here I was a very outgoing happy go lucky lady. Now I have really bad anxiety, I hate being alone, I have been looking for a job can’t find one, all I do is sit in the house and have anxiety attacks and get so angry at my husband for moving us here. I started taking prozac ten days ago, i am hoping that will help. Why am I so angry and resentful towards my husband when my anxiety is clearly my fault? I feel so guilty feeling this way. I need some advice.
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