Reasons Why People Are Anxious
If you are interested in the question of what causes anxiety, you may want to take your seat and hold onto your hat. The answer, at least in part, may be: we do. Anxiety is caused by a host of factors, including brain chemistry, genetics, circumstances, personality, and so forth.
Of course, there are factors involved that we cannot simply decide to change, such as genetics or brain chemistry. Some of these are firm and fixed, such as genetics, and some are difficult to change at all even with a doctor’s contributions, such as brain chemistry. Still, we can affect our personality. And even when events in our lives happen that are outside of our control, we can control how we react to these events.
Sufferers of anxiety are often put on medication to help relieve their symptoms. Anti-anxiety medications tend to affect brain chemistry. As a result, scientists who conduct research on the brain and brain chemistry believe that brain chemistry has a direct influence on the experience of anxiety.
Scientists also have found that anxiety tends to run in families. Does anyone in your immediate family suffer from anxiety? Immediate family includes siblings, parents, grandparents and so on. If the answer is yes, you can expect that you will likely experience anxiety yourself.
Your personality may also play a role in whether you will experience anxiety. Research has established a connection between experiencing anxiety and personality traits such as poor self-esteem and a general lack of coping ability. Some researchers point to these findings as proof that personality can influence whether or not you will become an anxiety sufferer.
It can be hard to tell which is influencing which in some cases, though. When anxiety occurs in childhood, it can influence a person to have low self-esteem, which can contribute then to more anxiety in adulthood.
People who have suffered long periods of poverty or abuse are especially vulnerable to developing problems with anxiety.
Finally, taking certain substances can cause us to be more anxious. Coffee can be the culprit, and can be a major contributor to anxiety. The use of some illegal drugs like LSD or Ecstasy can also bring about anxious states.
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