What is the Main Cause of Anxiety?

Symptoms of anxiety can vary drastically depending on severity, age, or even gender, but there are many possible common symptoms that are commonly experienced, often experiencing multiple symptoms at once. Physically experienced symptoms can include quickened breathing or heart rate, hot flashes or sweating, aches and pains (particularly as headaches or back pain), restlessness or the inability to sit still, nausea, difficulty sleeping or grinding teeth while sleeping, changes in sex drive and frequency of using the bathroom, and could lead to panic attacks. Anxiety will also often cause mental symptoms which typically include the inability to relax, experiencing a sense of dread or fear the worse, depressive moods, rumination, derealisation, depersonalization, and much more. Many people suffering from anxiety will also often find increased difficulty in performing daily self-care acts such as maintaining relationships, enjoying leisure time, and simply looking after themselves.

An anxiety disorder is one of the most common kinds of mental health disorders, with close to one-third of the population developing an anxiety disorder at some point throughout their life. An anxiety disorder is different from feeling anxious about a specific upcoming event or situation as it goes beyond that situational nervousness to start interfering with how you are able to function. Suffering from an anxiety disorder will often cause you to respond irrationally to emotional triggers as you no longer have control over how you are able to respond to situations, which can cause your anxiety disorder to affect your day-to-day life. There are different kinds of anxiety disorders from which one may suffer, but the most common anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, separation anxiety, and phobias. It is entirely normal and natural to experience bouts of anxiety, but once it is starting to affect your ability to live your life as normal, and is persistent and severe, it may be developing into an anxiety disorder.

If you are experiencing any number of symptoms that are associated with anxiety, it is best to seek testing from a qualified medical professional rather than self-diagnose. Symptoms associated with an anxiety disorder are also commonly experienced for many other underlying medical conditions that may require treatment so it is incredibly important to seek medical attention when experiencing any irregular symptoms. Either your primary care physician, a psychiatrist or a psychologist is able to officially diagnose an anxiety disorder and provide treatment for the management of your symptoms.

Many people will develop an anxiety disorder due to difficult or traumatic experiences from their childhood, adolescence, or adulthood. Experiencing significant stress or living through trauma, especially at a young age, will often be very influential in your mental health as an adult. Some situations or circumstances that take place at any point in your life and can cause an anxiety disorder include emotional or physical abuse, neglect, the loss of a loved one, social exclusion, and bullying. Many aspects of our lives can cause anxiety, such as an upcoming important event, big life changes (moving, a break-up, career change), essentially anything that can cause stress and uncertainty, and experiencing anxiety due to any change or stressor in life is completely normal. Different triggers will not affect everyone differently, so there is anyone cause of anxiety nor is there one path through which the anxiety disorder will develop. We serve patients from Los Altos, CA, Sunnyvale CA, Palo Alto CA, Stanford CA, Atherton CA, Cupertino CA, and BEYOND.