Anxiety
What causes anxiety? Anxiety is a heritable condition, meaning if someone in the family has an Anxiety Disorder, there are high chances that their children and grandchildren will inherit those genes.
WHAT IS ANXIETY?
All of us experience anxiety at different times in our lives. Anxiety is a common emotion and part of a repertoire of emotions such as joy, sadness and anger. We experience all these emotions at varying levels on a day to day basis. The extent of each emotion experienced on any particular day is dependent on our circumstances at home, work and other factors.
So when does Anxiety become a problem? When to seek help?
Anxiety becomes a problem when we are overwhelmed with daily life, worry excessively over trivial matters, become easily irritable or annoyed, unable to relax and have difficulties with sleep. There are several other symptoms that indicate clinical anxiety, however the above symptoms are most commonly experienced.
There are several types of anxiety disorders such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Social Phobia, Specific Phobia , Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Anxiety Disorders are one of the most common medical conditions.
In Adolescents, about 30% of them meet clinical criteria for Anxiety, and, in Adults 1 in 4 people meet criteria for an Anxiety Disorder in their lifetime. Given this high prevalence, what prevents people from seeking help? The stigma of having ‘mental illness’ is still very prevalent, in spite of the tremendous advances made in diagnosing and treating psychiatric disorders such as Anxiety, Depression, OCD, Autism and other conditions. We have a huge body of literature on the etiology of these conditions.
Valid diagnostic assessments and treatments that work have been developed. Regardless of the advances made in Neuroscience, pharmacological treatments and empirically validated therapies, people still feel a sense of shame about seeking help for psychiatric disorders.
Many feel they have failed themselves and their families as they experience debilitating symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. They do not realize that this feeling of failure/shame/guilt is itself a symptom that needs intervention.
I have patients come in and say they do not know what depression is, and were told by their counselor or family members to seek help for their problems. Many of them are quite successful in their careers and have families. This makes it harder for people to think they may have an Anxiety Disorder or Depression. For many, clinical Anxiety/Depression makes it harder to be successful at work, school, in social settings and in relationships.