Causes of Generalized Anxiety Disorder
- Anxiety Disorders
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Symptoms and Diagnosis
- Treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Long Term Outlook
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- Panic Disorder
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Social Anxiety Disorder
- Childhood Disorders
- Down Syndrome
- Eating Disorders
- Mood Disorders
- Personality Disorders
- Phobias
- Somatoform Disorders
- Mental Disorder Articles
Causes of Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Hereditary or Learned?
Generalized anxiety disorder appears to run in families. This may indicate that the behavior is hereditary. However, as yet, no genetic sequence has been linked to the disorder. Prevalence in families may be caused in part by modeling, that is, the way a small child will imitate an adult. This is a useful survival trait, and is common to most mammals. Here, however, it may serve as a vessel for transmitting unhealthy worry and anxiety to young family members. Having subconsciously imprinted a parent’s approach to anxiety, children may graduate to obsessive worrying too.
Biological Causes
Whether or not generalized anxiety has a biological origin is unclear. In an early study, test subjects encountered stressful situations, with blood flow variations to the brain measured afterwards. Those with generalized anxiety disorder showed unusual flow responses when compared to the control group. The significance of this finding is not yet clear, but indicates that sufferers may have an abnormal brain response to stress. This response may be innate to a sufferer, or develop over time.
An overactive thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism) tends to cause heightened anxiety levels, and may contribute to the disorder in some sufferers. However, hyperthyroidism has many serious and varied effects, and is not a factor in the majority of cases.
Personality Factors
Certain personality traits are strongly correlated with generalized anxiety disorder. Some sufferers tend towards perfectionism, or constantly imagine cause-and-effect scenarios. Perhaps their friends know them as a ‘born worrier’. Such a person will likely be more at risk of an anxiety disorder.
A lack of personal fulfillment can also elevate levels of general anxiety. Dissatisfaction in a work environment, or not feeling needed in the home may become a center of worry for a sufferer.
Blood Glucose
A low level of glucose in the blood (hypoglycemia) is sometimes linked with anxiety. This indicates that, at least some of the time, the symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder are the brain’s response to certain external stresses. If the brain is unable to get a normal level of glucose, for instance, part of it’s warning system may be to cause a heightened level of anxiety in the conscious mind.
Specific Anxieties
Sufferers of generalized anxiety disorder do not tend to have the highly specific fears of a panic disorder sufferer. However, certain stressful events or situations can cause spikes in anxiety, inducing an episode of generalized anxiety. For instance, a sufferer might find riding a crowded bus stressful. They are not driven into panic, but elevated stress levels may trigger an episode of severe generalized anxiety.
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