Passed down from mom?

[Mark]

This may sound like a dumb question but is anxiety heretitary?
Can it be passed down from partents?

I am asking because my mom suffers from anxiety attacks and was wondering if I got it from her.

That, plus the hair loss I got from my dad, my folks really helped me :)

[chanel07]

Yes, it is genetic. Both my dad and sister suffer from it.

[Kuromi_Ai]

It isn't a dumb question at all.

Just like chanel07 said, it can be genetic. My grandmother, grandfather, and my mother have suffered from anxiety before I have. Only my mom however, has had treatment in the past.

[Robbed]

Yes, it is genetic. Both my dad and sister suffer from it.

This doesn't mean it's genetic. Anxiety is most typically 'passed down' through the family because we learn to live stressfully from our parents. Although neither of my parents had/have an anxiety condition (that I know of OR that they are willing to admit to), they both tend to be the kinds of people who tend to negatively overreact emotionally to MANY things. For instance, they would tend to blow an unexpected $5 service charge on their bank account, the cat pooping on the rug, or missing a freeway exit COMPLETELY out of proportion (guess where THEY learned this). And I KNOW that I picked up this tendency from them (although I manifest it quite differently) - not genetically, but just because that was what I was exposed to and that's what I considered normal. So when my life tended to go wrong, guess what happened?

Here's something else to consider. Many people DO recover from anxiety and remain anxiety-free by overcoming these unhealthy learned behaviors. If it was truly genetic, then NOBODY would EVER recover. Also, if it was genetic, then cognitive strategies would be pretty much completely ineffective and medication would be the ONLY thing that could possibly help. Yet, cognitive strategies are FAR more effective in the long term than meds.

[nyscott]

Hi,
I'm new to this forum In fact, I'm new to posting on any anxiety forum. I'm going to post a seperate question about Cymbalta, but I saw this post and thought I'd say something first. I'll put a bit more of my own history in my other post....

Genetics... all the doctors I've spoken to, believe there is a genetic 'dispostion'. And, in fact, all of my three brothers and my father are or have been on some form of medication to help manage this. I also do believe a stressful family upbringing can influence this 'disposition'. I didn't come from a very talkative family and I didn't know that my brothers and father had these same problems until I had my first panic attack at the age of 32. I was out of work for three days and hadn't slept the entire time, until my brothers came over and one of them gave me a few xanax. It really helped me see a light at the end of the tunnel. We started to talk, for the first time, about how each of them were dealing with it. My mother, on the other hand has never taken or has seemed to need anxiety management.

I'm on this forum right now, because I am currently in the middle of an attack. I hadn't had an attack in several years and thought that I was 'cured'. Yes, there has been a few stressers that triggered things - but they are stressers that I feel the majority of people are better able to cope with. So, I do think genetics places a disposition on me. This is why I'll be creating a seperate post. I had stopped medications (Zoloft) over a year ago and want to try and make a good choice about how to manage this and to commit to managing this.

Thanks for hearing this...

[Robbed]

Genetics... all the doctors I've spoken to, believe there is a genetic 'dispostion'. And, in fact, all of my three brothers and my father are or have been on some form of medication to help manage this. I also do believe a stressful family upbringing can influence this 'disposition'. I didn't come from a very talkative family and I didn't know that my brothers and father had these same problems until I had my first panic attack at the age of 32. I was out of work for three days and hadn't slept the entire time, until my brothers came over and one of them gave me a few xanax. It really helped me see a light at the end of the tunnel. We started to talk, for the first time, about how each of them were dealing with it. My mother, on the other hand has never taken or has seemed to need anxiety management.

Then again, I don't know that I would take a doctor's word about this. From my experience, doctors are GREAT if you have an ear infection or broken bone. But the medical community doesn't do so great when it comes to anything mental/emotional. After all, doctors tend to try to look for strictly biological/chemical causes for problems that are caused for more cognitive reasons. After all, although anxiety does appear to have physical underpinnings, it appears that it is caused by damage to the brain from chronic and/or acute exposure of the brain to stress hormones.

As for YOUR anxiety, I seriously doubt that you have a gene that tells your body to switch on the anxiety on your 32nd birthday. Remember that true genetic illnesses start MUCH earlier in life. Not coming from a talkative family can certainly cause problems such as this one. Even if there was not really much tension between you andother family members, it sounds to me like you grew up in a situation where you didn't have much support, and were forced to deal with everything yourself. When something bad happened, you were not able to talk about it to others, get it off your chest, or possibly learn an effective way of dealing with it. And even away from your family, perhaps you never had much support. Even if you DO have friends, you probably didn't think much about turning to them when things went sour. This basically puts you in a state of chronic stress (even if not always serious enough to feel bad all the time or ever make you feel overwhelmed), and there you go. Does this pretty much sound like your situation throughout your life?

Your mother, on the other hand, was probably brought up qute differently, and learned to live less stressfully. Is this NOT what you have observed in her and her family?

Here's something else to consider. Anxiety conditions are becoming more and more common. Now I just don't think that humans evolve that quickly genetically. I think this is most likely due to the more stressful world that we live in.

[nyscott]

It is a fair description. All in all, though, I'm sure many people have had more stressful upbringings and circumstances and can cope just fine. And so, I say to myself "Why can't I".

I have had anxiety since at least high school years and had been told, later in life, I was a moody child. It was only at the age of 32 that I had my first panic/anxiety attack. Including the one I'm in right now, I've only had four attacks since then. It doesn't sounds like a big deal, to a doctor, but it lasts for days and even weeks before I start to settle down and is completely dabilitating. The first time, before I knew about medications like xanax, I was awake and wired for three days. I fear that stress situations and the popularity of anti-anxiety drugs may be desensitising doctors to the symptons of people who are really having problems as opposed to those who may need a little help relaxing.

In any case, I do appreciate listening to this banter, because your right, I don't talk about it much. I have never taken any medication on a regular basis, but would be willing to do so for this problem if I could find one that will be worth it.

As for my mother, I really don't know. She came to this country when she was young, on her own. I have only met her family and many of my cousins three times.[/quote]

[Robbed]

It is a fair description. All in all, though, I'm sure many people have had more stressful upbringings and circumstances and can cope just fine. And so, I say to myself "Why can't I".

I have had anxiety since at least high school years and had been told, later in life, I was a moody child. It was only at the age of 32 that I had my first panic/anxiety attack. Including the one I'm in right now, I've only had four attacks since then. It doesn't sounds like a big deal, to a doctor, but it lasts for days and even weeks before I start to settle down and is completely dabilitating. The first time, before I knew about medications like xanax, I was awake and wired for three days. I fear that stress situations and the popularity of anti-anxiety drugs may be desensitising doctors to the symptons of people who are really having problems as opposed to those who may need a little help relaxing.

In any case, I do appreciate listening to this banter, because your right, I don't talk about it much. I have never taken any medication on a regular basis, but would be willing to do so for this problem if I could find one that will be worth it.

Remember that stressful is a relative term. What appears to be stressful to one person may not be so to another. For instance, one person may have NO problems driving on a lonely mountain road at night, yet have problems when it comes to confrontations with other people, while another person might be the complete opposite. Also, when it comes to situations growing up, other people might have had to endure things such as poverty, yet may have had supportive friends and family. And in a case like yours, someone could grow up in a similar family situation, but learn to cope by means of having a support structure outside home (friends, extended family, etc). So when it comes to stress, there are alot of variables.

As for medications, this can be somewhat problematic. Although xanax is much maligned by doctors for being habit forming, it has the advantage over SSRIs of being an 'as needed' medication. This means that it is only taken when needed, as opposed to all the time. SSRIs, which doctors seem to prefer to prescribe (despite the fact that they, too can be habit forming) MUST be taken all the time. The problem with this is that side effects can be quite bothersome, and even debilitating for some. Also, they can be VERY hard to stop. You must REALLY weigh the pros and cons of taking such a drug, especially if you actually feel quite normal when you are not having problems. Remember that, because SSRIs must ALWAYS be taken, the side effects are going to be full-time. In other words, those normal periods will likely feel ALOT less normal.

But perhaps a better way for you to go would be a cognitive approach. Taking meds alone rarely makes anyone better in the long term, and is NEVER a cure. Try some good self-help material and/or conunseling/therapy. I should note, though, that counseling can be quite dicey, as there are MANY therapists that are just no good. Especially when it comes to dealing with anxiety. Indeed, you will probably have to shop around quite a bit for a therapist. And you will probably have to try a few before you find one who can REALLY help you. But a cognitive approach offers the best means of attaining medication-free good emotional health in the long term.

[bio]

Hi Mark.

I doubt if anyone can give us the definite answer to your question. Anxiety is like any other sickness. This means, it can be due to either hereditary or environmental factors or both. Let us take cardiovascular disease as a good example. Most people say, if a mother or father is hypertensive then their children will be hypertensive too. Generally, it's true. However, that is not always the case.

For my case, anxiety disorder is not passed down from my parents but yet three of us are sufferers, unfortunately. So, the big question is, do I start the tree of anxiety disorder of my own family? Hopefully not.

cheer

[MissAngelicNorth]

My mam and dad both had it