Is Health Anxiety Inherited or Learnt?

[skippy66]

Do you believe that your health anxiety (and other anxiety disorders you may have) has been passed down to you 'in the genes', or do you believe that it is a learnt behaviour? Maybe, like katesa, you had a parent with HA - were you born with it or did it arise from observing their worrying as you grew up?

I believe that it's a combination of both of these - but the important thing to remember is that even if it is inherited in the genes it can be conquered. HA is not something you have to live your whole life with and I'm sure that most people (like me) can remember a time before they had HA.

Interested to hear your views on this nature vs nurture debate...

[cpe1978]

I believe that I have a predisposition to anxiety and I am fairly certain I can figure out where that disposition comes from. Mix that in with a bit of a perfectionist streak for good measure and bam!

I agree it is a mix. I can see genetic character traits which lend themselves, but I suppose it is nigh on impossible to figure out which are conditioned and which are innate.

For me, HA could probably have been any sort of anxiety it is just that at this moment in time based on life circumstances health is the way that it has chosen to manifest itself, and frankly - I ain't keen!

[Rennie1989]

I believe it's a combination of both. I believe that you can be more susceptible to developing anxiety if your mother or father (or even more distant relatives) have it but then I believe that you can pick these habits up as a child. In my circumstance my paternal grandmother and paternal auntie have depression whereas my mother is the anxious type who I probably learnt the habits off. Nobody is 100% certain whether anxiety and depression is genetic or learnt, it's the nature v. nurture debate.

[Mr Mannering]

Had a care free life and never worried about anything at all... looking back I didn't realise how lucky I was. However mine kicked off big time when my mother died. So I think it can also be circumstantial as only then did I realise how fragile we all are and suddenly everything I had was magnified ten fold.

[katesa]

Great question Skippy and one I have often pondered.

I think that my mothers worries definitely affected me. But I don't think I would have gone on to develop full blown HA if not for other experiences in my life and also my pre-disposition to worry.

Whether that pre-disposition to worry was nature or nurture I'm not sure but my earliest memories involve being concerned that my baby sister might be too cold, or wanting my Dad to stop riding his motorbike because it didn't look safe. So maybe I was just born a bit of a worrier, and then life sort of sealed the deal, if you know what I mean.

So I guess, in my opinion, it can be a bit of both.

[Fishmanpa]

Great Question!

While there are definitely physical traits we inherit, it's debated whether mental issues can be inherited. I believe the answer is "yes". I've personally known those that suffer from mental issues whose parents do as well.

That being said, we are also the product of our environment. Before the advent of the media, we weren't exposed to many of the horrors of the world as we are now. As children we were fearless. I remember thinking I would fly with the cardboard wings I made and jumped off an 8 foot wall only to flap my arms once or twice before face planting on the ground ~lol~ Then we see things on TV like someone dying in the movies and worry that it will happen to our parents or ourselves. We get reassurance and hopefully move on. If we're exposed to HA (as is the case in Kat's post... wonderful post btw. Thanks for sharing something so personal), then we can learn that behavior, consciously or not.

I agree with it's a bit of both.

Positive thoughts

[HoneyLove]

Interesting discussion guys - I feel the same way, that it is a combination of both.

I get the feeling that a lot of people with anxiety problems are incredibly sensitive. If you read up on Highly Sensitive People and the research Elaine Aaron has done into them, then you might find most of us here will fit into this category. We're just born more sensitive than others, things get to us more, we're more aware of things (including our own bodies) and we feel things harder than most (including often feeling much worse when we're sick than a non-highly sensitive person feels). This sensitivity leaves us more open to anxiety problems.

(I have some interesting links on Highly Sensitive People if anyone is interested)

I can't remember if the highly sensitve thing is inherited, but I imagine it is, and we'll probably all know a person like us in our families (usually a parent). In the same way I bet most of us have a relative with anxiety or depression issues.

In my case it's my Dad, my Mum says that were were cut from the same cloth. I love my Dad, think he's an awesome person, but I really wish I wasn't so like him in terms of mental health. He gave me genes with lots of talent but no focus and horrible anxiety issues! lol

It's also definitely a learned behaviour on my behalf too. When I was younger I thought my parents were pretty relaxed, but it's only as I got older that I really saw that they're a pair of worriers! And I'm so like them, without ever realising that I was picking up their behaviour. It seeps in subtly.

[Tanner40]

Great thread to ponder, Skippy. I definitely think that there can be a genetic component in anxiety, depression, and HA. I know that I have other members within my immediate family that have suffered with all of these illnesses. I believe that I learned to worry from these people. I can still hear my Granny saying, "Don't go out with wet hair or you'll catch your death of TB".
On the flip side, there have been a couple major life circumstances that have kicked my anxiety and depression into overdrive. Having the predisposition to worry can be a critical factor, in my opinion.

[violeta]

This is an interesting question and one that I often ask myself as none of my immediate family have anxiety. I remember my first brush with HA. I was about 23 years old (I'm 33 now) and I remember watching an old episode of Neighbours on UK Gold where Lucy Robinson had a brain tumour. One of the shots was from her POV, with the room spinning around. I remember sitting on my bed and staring at the wardrobes and doorframes, convinced that they were moving, hence I must have had a brain tumour.

However I have no idea what triggered it. I was bullied at school (verbally, not physically) which meant I was a complete idiot at university as I was trying too hard to fit in instead of just being myself, this led to me calling myself an idiot out loud every morning until ... well, it's something that I still do now. Whether that has anything to do with it, I don't know. But I think it's clear that I am pre-disposed to this sort of thinking.

I don't know. I just want to get better!

[blueangel]

I suspect that it is a bit of both. I know that my father had quite severe HA, but he died when I was 7 and had spent the best part of 5 years in hospital prior to this, so I didn't have that much contact with him. Therefore I'm sure there is an inherited factor in it in my case.

I discovered that my father had HA from my mother, who was very disparaging about it and used to call him a hypochondriac (they didn't get on; long story but I suspect that if he hadn't died, they would have got divorced while I was still quite young).

I therefore learnt that being anxious about health was a "bad thing", but I knew very early on it was something that affected me. My mother wasn't awfully kind about it, to be honest, and I'll never know whether that made me better or worse.

[pearl79]

Looking back at my life I was a VERY carefree teenager and my early twenties I was the same. For me my trigger I think was a miscarraige I had (lost conciousness after havin lost 4 pints of blood) but HA didnt hit had til 2 years later and I had my daughter, from that moment on thingd just got worse amd worse. I have plenty of worriers in my family both my parents seem strong but looking at them they are both insecure. Ive witnessed some terrible things since (witnessing the death of a young baby(cot death) almost losing my partner to a illness and my son has been diagnosed with a gentletic tumor conditiin), and they havent helped one bit. I am actually starting to think theres no end to all the mental and physical symptoms to HA. I seem to be quite picky or obsessive in my general life, id say verging on mild ocd. Its all actually torture :( will I ever be better xxx

---------- Post added at 14:24 ---------- Previous post was at 14:21 ----------

Excuse my typing, im rubbish with my mobile key pad x

[HyPoCon]

As far as I know none of my relatives had health anxiety, or even depression.

Mine came from the death of a loved one through disease, I think perhaps substance abuse also may have had something to do with it....

But studies I have come across say that it can definitely be passed on through family but it is through learning from them as apposed to genetics

[SarahH]

Definitely LEARNT behaviour................none of my family suffer from HA except me....and mine comes from PTSD (just my opinion)

[jared]

None of my family (that I know of) have been diagnosed with any mental disorder - they are all too proud to get checked out, but I know it's there. Family on my dads side worries a lot, lots of worriers. I'm that way too. But I decided to actually get diagnosed. So coming from a family of "did you hear what happened to uncle so and so" I probably retained some of that. I also had an anxious childhood growing up around overbearing down right mean step parents.

[unsure_about_this]

I was pretty much health anxious free until I was in my 20s, I did have to have regular check ups when I was younger because of my NF monitoring when I was younger, which the GPs have to do still.
My hit point can when my Dad received his letter from the test sample because he had reach the age of bowel cancer screening (poop test) this was late 2011. he test was fine, but I was worried I might have a problem. Than my fears have just gone over the top since than, worrying about everything.
He is due another test sometime in the next couple of weeks. so I will be worrying even more.

As for my family none are health anxious like I am from what I aware of, my mum is quite anxious about other things so maybe I pick the anxious thing from her.