Empower Network

We have already seen, that the feeling of anxiety or anxiousness, is caused by an influx of chemicals into the bloodstream, but what triggers this reaction?

Anxiety is most often triggered by stress in our lives; external factors over which we feel we have little or no control and the possible consequences of which frighten us. It may however also be caused entirely by us and the things we say to ourselves in our heads – our self talk – if we are constantly telling ourselves to expect the worst.

Controlling self talk should be a fairly easy exercise for most people. I have written about it in my books and in a blog post here if you feel you’d like some pointers.

Let’s have a look at some of the external causes.

Medical Anxiety Triggers

Certain medical conditions can cause anxiety as a side effect of the illness itself – things like emphysema or a blood clot on the lung which inhibit oxygen in the blood and altitude sickness for example.  Others, like anaemia,  asthma and some heart conditions are also associated with anxiety.

Perhaps the more common link between medical issues and anxiety is actually the stress illness causes – worry about possible outcomes and implications and of course the side effects of medication.

Genetic Links to Anxiety

Some researchers have suggested that you are more likely to suffer with anxiety if there is a history of it in your family, but it has yet to be proven that there is in fact a genetic predisposition involved.

I think it is clear to see that if you are brought up in an environment where anxiety plays an important role,  you are more likely to develop anxious tendencies, but I would argue that this is nurture rather than nature at work. We pick up most of our beliefs, values, attitudes and habits from those who surround us in our early years.

 Environmental Anxiety Triggers

Anxiety of all kinds can also be triggered by external or environmental factors; things that happen in our lives. Common examples might be:

• Work / school related stress
• Death
• Trauma from a specific event
• Relationship issues
• Divorce
• Financial worry

Drug and Alcohol Related Anxiety

Both the use of and withdrawal from  illegal drugs and alcohol have been proven to increase  the occurrence of anxiety disorders.

Prescription drugs are not exempt from this and things like sleeping pills and some anti depressants for example can give rise to feelings of anxiety, both as side effects during usage and when the course of medication has finished.

Brain Chemistry and Anxiety

Neurotransmitters are chemicals within the brain that communicate messages throughout our bodies. From functions like heartbeat and breathing, to sleep, digestion and mood control, we rely on these chemicals to live. When they are depleted, or not working efficiently we cannot function properly and this can lead to anxiety. These neurotransmitters are easily affected by things like stress, alcohol, poor diet and caffeine for example, all of which can contribute to anxiety.

It soon becomes evident that anxiety has many causes and that most of us are likely to become subject to at least some of them during our lifetime doesn’t it. Fortunately we now live in an age where anxiety is much less taboo and treatments much more readily available. Medical help, counselling, coaching and self help treatments are all available to those who seek them and in a future post I’ll share some of my favourites with you.

If you have enjoyed this post, you may like some of the related posts found in the Anxiety category. Please feel free to leave a comment below if you have found this useful or have any questions. Thank you