Videos from Liberty Family Medicine

Anxiety can be hereditary. There are both environmental and hereditary factors that are at play for anxiety, but they have found a relationship between anxiety and depression as it pertains to one's genetics. There is a chemical in our brain called serotonin, it's kind of our happy hormone or the thing that helps us feel calm and relaxed. In the case of anxiety, it is normally too low. We've found that there are certain genetic risks for not processing serotonin appropriately or not making enough of it, both of which can lead to anxiety or depression. If you feel like you're having this problem, I suggest talking with your doctor.

Anxiety becomes a disorder when it starts to affect your ability to cope, or your ability to go through your normal activities of daily living, or interact with the world around you in an appropriate way. It also becomes a disorder if the symptoms of anxiety, although you're coping fairly well, are starting to cause you significant distress. There are a lot of really good treatment options for anxiety disorders, including medications and therapy. Please ask your doctor if these are getting out of control.

There are three fairly common types of anxiety disorders: generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and social anxiety disorder. Each one of them is a little bit different. The most common, or generalized anxiety disorder, is normally characterized by excessive, constant worrying. That worrying can be about a variety of different topics, and can be so devastating for a patient that sometimes they will have problems with their sleep, their eating schedules, and even sometimes manifest with physical symptoms such as headaches, abdominal pain, and heart racing symptoms as well.

Panic disorder is a little bit different. Panic disorder is a problem with recurrent panic attacks and concern of having recurrent panic attacks in the future. A panic attack normally is a short period of time, normally 15 to 20 minutes or so, of severe anxiety, sometimes chest pain, sometimes nausea, sometimes a feeling like you are about to die almost. These can be very devastating for patients.

Last is social anxiety disorder. Social anxiety disorder normally relates to anxiety that happens in regard to having a social experience. That may be sitting down and having a conversation with somebody, being in a large group, public speaking. It becomes a disorder, rather than just being nervous about a presentation, when it becomes so pervasive that it's starting to be a problem in your ability to cope or to be in that setting, or you're actively avoiding those settings.