Is there ever a medical cause for Anxiety or is it always mental?

[cjemc]

I feel so bad sometimes that it feels like something medical must be causing this sensation.
In roughly how many percent of cases is a medical cause to blame for causing prolonged anxiety I wonder?

[sial72]

Hi
I don't know about percentages but there are certain medical conditions that can cause anxiety like problems with thyroids, certain vitamin or mineral deficiencies...etc. So I think it is always worth checking these things out at the beginning of suffering from anxiety x

[ricardo]

Hi
I don't know about percentages but there are certain medical conditions that can cause anxiety like problems with thyroids, certain vitamin or mineral deficiencies...etc. So I think it is always worth checking these things out at the beginning of suffering from anxiety x


Indeed the very first thing that was checked when I first had anxiety symptoms was my thyroid and folic acid (for some reason)

[Davit]

Anxiety always comes from mental in the form of memory. Physical conditions and deficiencies dictate what part of memory is used. So in that sense they would be the cause even though indirectly. Fix the physical and you fix the mental with it.

[MyNameIsTerry]

I don't think our NHS would even know. How many people go undiagnosed with physical issues & deficiencies for years?

If you look on NHS Choices is explains what basic physical checks a GP should do when presented with a possible anxiety disorder to rule out underlying physical causes. My GP did none of them.

Nine years plus now and still not a single check. I presented wih anxiety issues and talked about my stressful job, the assumption was made.

[Davit]

People must remember that anything foreign feeling can cause anxiety once an anxiety disorder is established but that goes away once it is cured. Not talking HA here since Ha is a heightened awareness and a misuse of memory. (searching for the worst)

[MyNameIsTerry]

People must remember that anything foreign feeling can cause anxiety once an anxiety disorder is established but that goes away once it is cured. Not talking HA here since Ha is a heightened awareness and a misuse of memory. (searching for the worst)

Yes, I found that any feeling in the body other than what my core belief believed to be appropriate was a possible risk. This is why things like eating bothered me because I may feel some bloating or be stimulated or warm up, etc. This then starts to get associated in your subconscious as a set of risks and you have to break it again - create a new belief or reform the old one.

HA is one with heightened awareness of the body but that breaks down into a set of disorders and from reading the diagnostic manual we use in the UK (WHO ICD, currently ICD-10) it can be because they associate it with a serious physical illness which they can name or conditions where they focus on resolution of the symptom at all costs by pursuing treatment but odn't necessarily believe it to be something more serious. The US manual differs in its conditions though, hence all the confusion likely on the HA board since people are talking cross-purposes at times.

I think anxiety in general makes you hyper aware of symptoms anyway. Its obvious when you think about how fight or flight is trying to get you to survive. Engage that process constantly and it will just stay on high alert so much it will find things, innocent things, and make them a future problem by making incorrect associations.

So, whilst I believe that if there is a physical trigger issue, you can remove it and your anxiety will reduce, I also believe it still leaves all of those beliefs & associations in your subconscious. If you have been changing your beliefs over time, whilst you will be less triggered you will still need to go through a process to correct this but it will be much easier now as you are challenging what has become a weakened set of issues. If you don't do that, I would believe you are leaving yourself open to a future anxiety disorder if you are placed under the right set of conditions.

[Davit]

True

[blue moon]

Crikes!I feel like when reading all these deep and meaningful posts,I am sitting in the conference room with all the docs and Psych's at my husbands work.

Just my opinion x:D

[MyNameIsTerry]

Crikes!I feel like when reading all these deep and meaningful posts,I am sitting in the conference room with all the docs and Psych's at my husbands work.

Just my opinion x:D

Yeah, its been a long time for me since I could get into the deep stuff! I think it takes me back to that thread (and "guru") that we can't talk about on NMP theseday :winks:

'Tell me about your childhood' :roflmao:

[Rennie1989]

I did learn some time ago about a part of the brain called the amygdala, it is the panic centre and always looks out for danger. If it finds danger it alerts the hippocampus, which evaluates the threat, then it tells the rest of the brain and body to prepare, like releasing adrenaline and cortisol. The amygdala is vital for our survival, without it we would not react to danger.

It is said (and, please, take it as a theory) that childhood experiences can influence the reactivity of the amygdala, for example if you were abused (including bullying), have anxious parents or experienced trauma the amygdala can become over-reactive. This means that your brain will react to things that somebody with a normal amygdala wouldn't, for example an unfamiliar noise, something that somebody said, a news article etc. It has been said that an over-active amygdala can cause anxiety disorders, panic disorders, OCD and intrusive thoughts.

The amygdala can be 'turned down' by therapies like CBT, exposure and calming techniques. This is why when I give advice and techniques for anxiety I say 'It won't work the first, second, third or forth time' because it takes the brain time to reroute synapses to change our behaviour and attitude, thus calming the amygdala down.

It makes a lot of sense to me and I work around this regarding anxiety. Some people may not, but that's OK.

[Davit]

Actually you don't turn down Amygdala. What you do is give it different material to work with so it gives Hypothalamus different instructions, Milder ones. (it appears the same though) Hypothalamus then uses different memories to direct your mind and body to react. This then recycles to set the stage for the next thought going through Amygdala. Hypothalamus and pituitary have a direct link so symptoms can happen very fast. Amygdala can do contemplation or it can do instant panic depending on what it has in it's memory for reaction. Positive thought changes it's memory bank. It takes time to do this is all.