What Causes Anxiety, and Does It Matter?

What causes anxiety (Anxiety Causes)? It's a question nearly all anxiety sufferers ask. Anxiety can range from mild to debilitating; it can be a vague and general experience like existential anxiety, or it can be one of many different types of anxiety disorders. Anxiety can be temporary, intermittent, or feel like it's permanent (that feeling that it will last forever is one of the lies anxiety tells you). Regardless of anxiety's nature and type, it's natural to want to know what causes anxiety. Anxiety can indeed have causes. Does it matter what they are?

Several Things Can Cause Anxiety

Among the primary causes of anxiety:

Thoughts Many times, how we think about ourselves, the world around us, and our stressors can cause anxiety. With anxiety, our thoughts aren't always trustworthy. Believing everything we think can create or intensify anxiety.

Emotions Some psychology experts and researchers believe that the primary cause of anxiety is our emotions. We have emotional reactions to people, places, and events, and when these emotions are negative or intense, they can cause anxiety.

Behaviors Another school of thought among anxiety experts is that our behaviors, what we do or do not do, cause anxiety. Do we take action in the face of anxiety or stress, or do we retreat? Do we have a confrontational interaction style, or do we let others take advantage of us? Lifestyle is part of this, too; indeed, things like diet and exercise have a role in anxiety. In many ways, our actions influence anxiety.

The brain Neurologists have implicated the brain itself as a cause of anxiety. Chemical imbalances can cause anxiety, as can the behavior of specific areas and structures within the brain. Therefore, when people say that anxiety is in your head, they just might be right (insofar as anxiety is often brain-based, and the brain is housed inside the head).

Genetics Researchers have discovered that anxiety is a heritable condition. That means that it's not passed on from parent to child like height or eye color, but the potential for anxiety to develop is passed on. Anxiety can run in families, which suggests genetics as a cause.

Background Sometimes, people or events in our past can cause anxiety. Overprotective, highly anxious parents can cause their child (and, later, teen and adult) to be anxious. Past trauma can also cause anxiety, and triggers can cause anxiety to flare.

Environment Stressful circumstances can cause anxiety. Work, family, neighbors, finances, and illness are among the myriad factors external to us that contribute anxiety.

Physical illness Certain medical conditions can cause anxiety. When your anxiety symptoms are new or suddenly intensify, it's a good idea to see your doctor to rule out an underlying health problem.

Nothing It can be maddening. Sometimes, we search for explanations as to why we experience anxiety, and we come up empty-handed. There are times when anxiety strikes without an obvious cause.

Does the Cause of Anxiety Matter?

Is it important to know what causes your anxiety? The answer is as individual as anxiety itself. For some it will be extremely important. For others it won't matter at all. Each person will fall somewhere within those two extremes.

Knowing the cause of anxiety can be beneficial. Sometimes knowing the cause can be the starting point to recovery. Discovering and addressing the cause can be the key to unraveling anxiety's tangled mess.

However, sometimes knowing the cause of anxiety is irrelevant at best and harmful at worst. The "why" of anxiety isn't always significant, and many people prefer to deal with the symptoms of anxiety or the effects anxiety has on their life in order to overcome anxiety.

Is it important to you to know the cause of your anxiety? To answer that, consider where you are now and where you want to be in the future. What steps will get you there? Consider the above causes of anxiety, and if one stands out to you, you could start there (work on your thoughts, learn to manage emotions, etc.). If the cause of anxiety matters to you, then it's important.

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