what actually causes anxiety?

[Kurt von Humboldt]

My girlfriend has suffered with anxiety, BPD, bi-polar2 since she was a teenager. I was always under the impression that these things were actually the result of a chemical imbalance within the body. But also she suffered some EXTREMELY traumatic experiences as a teenager (which I would rather not explain the details of on the forum) and lately I've been wondering if those experiences may have in fact planted the "seeds of mental illness" inside her psyche. Is this plausible at all? I don't know much about mental illness so please pardon my ignorance. I realize that many people might consider it offensive to even propose that anxiety, BPD and/or bi-polar could be caused by life events rather than genetics. Am I way off base here? Is this a nurture vs. nature question?

[BrookeLynnnn]

My dr told me that anxiety & depression can be either a chemical imbalance or someone might of had things go on in their lifetime that has brought this on.

[Goomba]

I'm at work and don't have time for an extended response.

However, anxiety is not mental illness.

It is possible for your anxiety to be 100 percent cognitively caused. In fact, the experience of anxiety is generally a mental one. While there may be physical symptoms, the experience of anxiety exists in the mind.

[Kurt von Humboldt]

Ok sorry, I get confused because my GF suffers from a number of conditions including GAD, BPD, BiPolar2, Depression, Fibromyalgia and Sjogrens. I've been reading a lot about these various conditions and I'm seeing a lot of information that there is a link between anxiety and fibromyalgia. And it doesn't just seem like having Fibromyalgia causes anxiety, in fact it seems almost the opposite, that most women who suffer from Fibromyalgia were long time sufferers of GAD before they developed fibro. Some doctors have even suggested that Fibro might be caused by the same psychological factors as anxiety, just manifested in a physical form instead of mentally. Not to say that fibro isn't a very real physical condition, if you could see how physically disabled my girlfriend is there would be no question that fibro is a very real condition, but I'm just wondering if fibro is somehow caused by anxiety or the same factors that cause anxiety. And furthermore, I'm starting to look at the patterns of her various conditions, and it seems like there is definitely a link between her conditions. A good day for one condition is generally a good day for all conditions and a bad day is well... bad. When she is happy and relaxed it seems like the physical symptoms are also reduced and when she gets upset about something and her anxiety starts happening it seems like a flare up of fibro is always right around the corner. As I stated previously she suffered some serious trauma as a teenager and shortly after began to exhibit symptoms of Bipolar, Anxiety and Borderline Personality Disorder. Then over the following ten years she developed other physical conditions which many doctors have linked in some mysterious and inexplicable way to Anxiety. So herein lies my question. Is it possible that all her physical, cognitive, mental and emotional problems are just various manifestations of the PTSD she suffered from her EXTREME trauma endured as a teenager. How likely is this? Am I barking up the wrong tree? Is it just a coincidence that she suffers from all these different yet similar/related conditions and also had severe trauma as a youth?

[gypsylee]

Well reading what you've said about your gf I will put it out there that anxiety is a nervous system disorder more than a mental disorder. This is a bit of semantics because the mind and body are linked in ways not even medicine understands properly (yet). But I feel like I've always had a nervous system that overreacts to things.

If you think of it as a nervous system issue, that would link all those things your gf has been diagnosed with. Well I don't know anything much about fibromyalgia but I think it's chronic pain that's not caused by any obvious physical problem.

My mother has seen 3 specialists for severe chronic pain and had countless scans and the cause is still a mystery. The pain management specialist has referred her to a psychologist to not only deal with pain but also grief over my brother dying last year. She had the pain before that but deteriorated a lot afterwards. So I'm thinking the trauma of that has added to the "overload" on her nervous system.

Anyway my point is the question of "what causes anxiety" is a complex one. I don't think we know nearly enough about the body yet, let alone the brain, to be able to answer that properly.

Cheers,
Gypsy x

[Goomba]

Anxiety hits people in many ways.

These next lines are generally speaking. There will be cases that differ.

Yes, some people have chronic chemical imbalances, but they are the minority. Even in that situation, my opinion is that the thought processes are more important than the physical symptoms. Chemical imbalances do not cause poor thinking habits. In other words, you can be in a state of panic physically (rapid heart beat, sweats, etc), but not experiencing anxiety mentally. The thought processes are where the true anxiety experience occurs. The physical symptoms are often a product of the thought processes, or instigate them to occur.

In example:

My heart is racing - I dont feel right - Im about to have a heart attack - I am dieing - heart races faster

or

Why does my chest hurt? - What if I am unhealthy? - Here the anxious individual gets nervous, putting the body into fight or flight mode - heart starts to race - panic begins - heart races faster - cycle continues and feeds itself

Anxious thinking continually puts the body into fight or flight - adrenaline pumping - everything going overdrive. Overtime, this takes a large toll on the body, and yes, can cause widespread physical symptoms. You specifically state that she started experiencing these things after a traumatic event, which is pretty solid proof that it is mostly mental over physical in this case.

In summary, it is a combination of mental and physical processes, feeding off of one another. However, the extent to which the physical is a problem exists in the mind. Our perceptions of what is happening is what creates the conundrum of anxiety.

I often to use the analogy that (Apart from those that do solely have tested chronic chemical imbalances) taking pills for anxiety is like taking tylenol for a headache, but then slamming your head against the wall and wondering why you still have a headache. The thought processes can cause the chemical imbalance - anxiety symptoms begin to occur - the pill alleviates the symptoms temporarily - thought processes are the same, so the anxiety occurs again when pill wears off - take pill - alleviate.

If you have no insight on, or are unwilling to confront the part of yourself that the anxiety stems from (Trauma, poor self worth, fear of death, etc), the anxiety will always be there. There needs to be a degree of responsibility to confronting the depths of the self, and doing away with the inner turmoil. Now, you can manage anxiety caused by this for a lifetime with pills, techniques, etc, but it will always still be present. I don't think the goal should be to be content with anxiety - it is possible to conquer it.

[raggamuffin]

Read up about changing core beliefs. A simple Google search will steer you in the right direction. Traumatic experiences are often when such beliefs are formed and often affect us in the present. It can take time to uncvoer these beliefs and try to purge/tackle the emotions so you can eventually change the belief itself.

If you struggle with this you might want to look into finding a counsellor who can help

Ed

[sae]

I think with situational/experience driven anxiety there is a level of self control that is lost for a long time. I have explained it like this: All through your cognitive development years (childhood,young adulthood ) you are taught the wrong names of the colors you see. You recognize red as blue and so on. Even if you learn better later on your mind is still going to name that color wrong initially.
Anxiety after trauma is a naming game. Instead of beating yourself up over not recognizing it at first, you come to see what it is shortly thereafter. It takes time to relearn behaviors. It takes even more time to pull oneself out of the victim mentality, to focus not on what was done but what can be done now and in the future.