is anxiety purely subjective?

[br19893]

By this I mean is there any proven research that anxiety disorder actually exists?
That's not me saying that people on this website don't feel very anxious, more so than the majority of people. But I read that all the research for the theory that anxiety and depression is caused by a chemical imbalance was funded by the pharmacuetical companies and was just accepted with no other firm independent research.
As an anxiety sufferer I often wonder why I feel like this. Me and my friend were having a conversation last night about how a persons upbringing can affect their mental health and we realised that we could evaluate everyone who we know and find that an aspect of their life could cause them to behave a certain way. The point I am trying to make is what is normal? Surely we all have some mental issues that could be addressed?
What's everyones opinions on this?
Anxiety is harder to diagnose than a medical condition that can be physically examined. The only way anxiety can be diagnosed is by asking a set of question about how an individual feels and how often they feel like this. But if you gave that test to a "normal" person would the answers they give be similar to someone who suffers from an anxiety disorder?
I'm not trying to offend anyone or suggest that anxiety isn't real, its just that its a very subjective condition that can't be measured. I'm interested to hear everyone's opinions on this :)

[kittikat]

Interesting.....
I think to a point anxiety can be measured by ones mental and physical responeses to it. Some people can go through tremendous amounts of stress and traumatic life experiences in their lives and seemingly 'carry on regardless' so to speak. For others anxiety can manifest itself into something more, where it takes over our thoughts and behaviour, hence the links between anxiety and other anxiety disorders.....Perhaps our pre-disposed links to such conditionds could be a factor, ie the genetic make-up. Our thoughts and feelings become more apparent and we 'learn' to act in an irrational way to try combat this when in fact, we are actually fuelling it. I do believe there may be a chemical imbalance to a point, however this cannot be measured and therefore cannot be proved.
I have recently started CBT and I can honestly say the therapist is so clued up and has got me down to a 'T' already. I have explored her thinking and can see where she is coming from with regard to her reasons why I have developed irrational anxieties, and I find it all so interesting.
We are all so different as human beings, and yes, we could find aspects of many others' lives which could cause certain behaviours. Perhaps these people are more able to rationalise their thoughts because of their genetic make-up. I believe a "normal" average Joe's responses to those questionaires may, in fact, be very different to our own. To many onlookers we are all "normal" as we try to hide our condition and carry on regardless...non the less, we suffer severe and often debilitating bouts of anxiety.

This is just my own take on the subject and I do not intend to cause any offence to others with differing views. I too would be interested to hear peoples thoughts on this subject, I find it all so intriguing.

Kitti :)

[Kendra]

Hi there,

I have been having talking therapy (only done 1 session) but the therapist described it as its like a big bucket that keeps getting added to. So everday stresses add up and add up on top of each other. Usually we do things to de-stress things we enjoy or excersie etc and the bucket gets less full. Some of us (like me) dont do the de-stress things so the bucket keeps getting full and full until it reaches the top, then the next thing that stresses us (could be anything big or small) just pushes us over the edge and we end up with anxiety, depression etc.

When she told me this I thought to myself for me she was so right, because I was so busy being a full time working mam trying to keep a nice tidy house etc I had put myself on the back seat as didnt feel I had time to do anything nice and relaxing for me anymore.

My question is though. Many of my friends lives are also busy like mine but as far as I am aware they haven't ended up like this?? So maybe its the fact that I am a overthinker and a worrier but these people arn't in general so dont suffer???

I do belive that when we are building up this stress it does end up as a chemical imbalance in our brains.

Just my thoughts on it??

Kendra x

[br19893]

I definatley agree that some people are more susceptible to anxiety, these people overthink and overevaluate things leading to the obsessive thinking. That's one thing that distinguishes anxiety sufferers from others.
It's interesting that my twin brother is the complete opposite of me, although wev both grown up in the same environment. He's not a deep person and is more interested in the material thongs in life, nothing really seems to affect him as he doesn't go over things in his head. I am interested in psychology and the human mind, so things tend to affect me more.
Kitti you say your counsellor has got you down to a T, mine I found jumped to all the wrong conclusions about why I have anxiety, blaming my parents seperation, which I actually found didn't affect me very much at all. I wish I could get to the bottom of why i Feel like this then maybe I could start to overcome it.
I'm shocked at how inconclusive the evidence for mental health problems like anxiety and depression is...