# Are we born with anxiety?



## Guest (Aug 12, 2004)

so..yeah, are we born with anxiety, panic disorder, DP/DR? And for the people that smoked or had to handle a lot of stress was getting this way(with DP/DR) inevitable...even if they hadn't smoked? I guess I just want to know why *I *have this and my friends don't. What makes my thinking so different that I have this and other people don't? I guess we are born with this? ahhh i dont know. and i know it dosnet really matter how we got here, just that we did but i'm just wondering.


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## Martinelv (Aug 10, 2004)

It's certainly plausable that some people are born genetically predisposed to anxiety disorders, in the same way that some people are born predisosped to schizophrenia, or developing cancer or whatever.

However, that doesn't mean that you WILL develop any of these things. It all depends on environment, triggers, drugs....


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## nemesis (Aug 10, 2004)

and to continue on from your post Cloverstone, abuse often runs in families which would propagate the anxiety. With that said tho, anxiety has a substantial biological component. We know that many of our body?s alarm circuits are grouped together in what?s called the amygdala, and that this is the area shown to be over excited in people who have problems with anxiety. Nature versus nurture? It?s a debate started by ancient Greek philosophers continues to rage on in the classrooms of post grad psychology students.


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## Guest (Aug 12, 2004)

F no, dude.

I got anxiety because I graduated from high school and freaked the hell out.

It was like being born again. "What is this place? Who am I? Oh my GAWD!!! I'M SO FREAKIN ANXIOUS!"

and then one day i was A-Okay. (which was actually Tuesday of this week) hahahaha shut up. I've had 3 good days now without any anxiety or DP/DR and i'm damn excited. *knocks on wood* Not that my DR/DP was that bad anyways, but when it was bad I felt like complete crap. It's just the anxiety, man. That damn thing we call anxiety.

Maybe some of us are more prone to developing anxiety. Usually the smarter folks who think way too deeply, which is think is kick ass! Go us!!


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## Guest (Aug 12, 2004)

I wasn't abused, never have been in any way. I think my mom had anxiety though and her father was an alcoholic and her mother was maybe abusive in some way. I don't think she physically abused her but maybe verbally...I don't know if it's the same. Maybe that has something to do with it.

nemesis what do you mean by nature vs. nature?


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## Digitalbath (Aug 13, 2004)

i think he mean NATURE versus NURTURE-


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## Guest (Aug 13, 2004)

oops!! sorry I read it wrong. well i still don't get it but thats ok


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## nemesis (Aug 10, 2004)

Fantasic artical, thanks for posting it Clover. It had never occured to me that social interations played such an essential role on actual brain structure. The article makes the point so glaringly obvious that I cant help but feel a little embarrased over not making the connection. I've wasted so many years wondering why I was becoming more dysfunctional while I was divorcing myself from life and social relations on my journey into agoraphobia. Do you suppose part of the biological cure is lays in the exact opposite of the cause; a life of rich social and family relationships?


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## nemesis (Aug 10, 2004)

You can?t choose your family, but you can choose your friends. An over used colloquium, but perfect for this example. We've always had a choice, but more often than not we've given into anxiety and stayed within our restrictive comfort zones because it?s easier that way.

Taking easiness one step further, we can even start to believe that our anxiety has removed any choice we might have when it comes to deciding our own fate. This is a personal favourite of mine because it gives me the ability to absolve myself of any responsibility over the illness and my own wellbeing. The evil scourge of my life is now no longer apart of me and now has its own form. What a relief, the anxiety isn?t my fault, it?s now that indefeatable black thing over there that dominates my life and takes choice from me. In fact, if the lightings correct I may even seem to be a bit of a martyr. But what?s really happening? I'm excusing myself from having to deal with the problem and in doing so I'm relieving myself of the relentless self hate that has always left me feel like I'm out of control and a failure whenever I fell like I have let myself down.

I've done this for the last 8 years or so. I've stagnated and then squandered a sickening number of opportunities to further myself in all areas of life. Somewhere along the line perhaps due to my current recovery method, ?avoid-ism?, being completely ineffective at any stage in 8 years, I now know that in order to beat this illness I must acknowledge that I am, well... ill, and then also to allow myself to be ill. Finally I must then take responsibility for my own wellbeing and take positive steps towards recovery. I guess this involves locating the areas of life where I do have a choice and then exercising that right in a positive and constructive way.

Then again it is 5am in the morning here and I could be delusional from lack of sleep and speaking a whole pile of crap. Apologies if that?s how it?s come across


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## Guest (Aug 15, 2004)

H
In my opinion,
Some people are most definitely genetically predisposed to anxiety and panic disorder just as some are predisposed to depression.

Check out your family,you will often see a pattern.

Naturally life certain circumstances and trauma can trigger bouts of anxiety for anyone.

So we have people who are hit with situational anxiety and others who
are predisposed and it comes on for no obvious reason and or is triggered by their life events.

Best Shelly


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## Pollyanna 3098 (Dec 12, 2006)

:roll:


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## nytesprite (Dec 3, 2005)

This is a great topic, Lauren, and I've often wondered the same thing myself -- is my anxiety caused by something physical, or some emotional trauma that I don't even know exists? I was raised by caring parents, was never abused, and I've never dabbled with recreational drugs (I tried a couple hits of a joint exactly once -- didn't feel a thing). Yet I've had anxiety problems almost my entire life, although I've only been experiencing the worst of it in the past 3 years off and on. I literally woke up one day and felt like I was in some kind of strange fog. It was only last year (after two horrendous battles with it) that I discovered this was DP/DR. I've been torturing myself as to why this is happening to me, and I've never been able to come up with an answer. I tend to think that in my case, it's a physical predisposition. But if so, why did it all come crashing down on me when it did? For so long, I was creeped out that there was something wrong with my brain -- a tumor or something. If that were the case, though, it wouldn't have come and gone as it has. It's strange -- it seems to only happen when I'm alone or not actively involved in a conversation or some kind of activity that requires a lot of concentration. I typically like to be alone, but I'm actually looking forward to being around other people, because maybe the feeling will lessen. I guess it's because when I'm having a conversation with someone or doing something that requires effort and thought, it forces me to think about something other than my own sanity (or lack thereof). I'm just so grateful that I have an appointment with my therapist on Friday. I don't think I could handle it much longer if I didn't.


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## ledganteast (May 12, 2006)

n/a


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## nytesprite (Dec 3, 2005)

You make a lot of good points, ledganteast. I think some people are born with a physiological predisposition to anxiety the way some people are born with a genetic tendency to have high cholesterol or diabetes. But you learn to make adjustments and take medication if necessary (careful diet for high cholesterol, insulin for diabetes, etc.). And I don't know if that piano thing is part of your post or your sig line, but I have the same problem! :lol:


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## flipwilson (Aug 19, 2006)

Certainly based on our genes we have certain predispositions to certain ailments in our family blood line but that doesnt mean our fate is sealed. My family on my fathers side has a history of anxiety, addictive tendincies, depression, OCD, and schizophrenia, but everyone in the family shows these things to certain degrees and only one aunt had schizophrenia. I was fine until 5th grade, very popular and social, then household trauma sensitized my nerve system and probably triggered these things that were dormant until then. Every stage of life ive gotten a new "friend". In 6th grade was anxiety, in highschool was social phobia, in college i developed OCD, and now out of college after just quitting my job of ten years and smokin a splif i get DP. Even now i dont feel like its my fate, cause i believe i can recover, but it is very hard once it starts its cycle. It is a shame our childhoods play such an important role in all of this crap, because your not old enough to prevent or cope with stuff. Im also guessing many of us on here didnt have the most fun in school either, so any kind of torment will build up to a creshendo at a certain point and poof you have one of the ailments i listed above.


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## nytesprite (Dec 3, 2005)

Sounds like you've been through a lot, flip. It's great that you've got such determination to get past it. I read somewhere that DP/DR can be a symptom of schizophrenia, so naturally I freaked and though I was going to go crazy. Having a family history, I can imagine that probably scared you even more. But being aware of what problems you face is half the battle in overcoming it. I admire your strength.


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