How many people here have genetically inherited Anxiety and how many developed it?

[cjemc]

I was just wondering to what extent the number of people who;
1. Were born genetically prone to anxiety
and
2. How many people developed anxiety rather than having actually been genetically anxious

Cheers

[Rennie1989]

Considering that nobody knows for sure if an anxiety disorder is genetic or not you won't get an accurate answer. There is also the nature v nurture debate of whether children learnt the anxious behaviours or if they were born with these tendencies.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Calum,

To understand this you will need to go beyond genetic predisposition as that debate is getting old now as science has moved on a bit. From doing some reading about this in the past it was mentioned that under certain conditions a gene can be passed by a parent BUT only at a certain stage and if they resolved their condition and a certain timescale elapsed, their own genetics changed to strip out this being sent on. Even then it has to be activated by events or conditions as the methylation process has to make a change to the gene by switching it from it's default "off" position to "on".

To understand this you need to read about epigenetics. BUT you also need to remember that epigenetics shows that a gene can be activated to "on" and then back "off" through the methylation process if the conditions are created to influence it to do that.

Epigenetics has been heavily studied for cancer research so it is bringing along other areas with it which is encouraging. It is proving that we change our genes throughout our lives. I think to fully understand whether there is enough evidence to say for sure, you would need to spend time researching findings but it looks promising that we have scientific references available to show some of this.

Science changes. It is only recently that science has proven that brain plasticity no longer has a "ceiling" and that we can generate new cells throughout our lives. Neurogenesis.

However, I always go by this rule - you weren't anxious as a new born baby, it came later, so regardless of genetics, something has changed it and you can always find the evidence if you look in the right ways. Knowing something is passed on that is NOT considered a permanent condition, means you have the ability to change it. Remember, our medical communities & governments don't consider this a permanent disability when it comes to our legal rights hence it's NOT permanent and hence genetics cannot be excused as the reason for non recovery.

[lindadiana]

ive had panic attacks and anxiety since I was 5 in the 60s,i have many phobias and eating with fear of chokig is one of them,i believe mine comes from my own mothers anxious fears as a child I was not allowed certain sweets that could choke me,my fathers mum lived with us (my grandma)as well and she had a choking phobia,so it does seem to run in families but ive noticed that my fears seem to be what my mother was afraid of,but she didn't have them until my dads mum came to live with us and was constantly goig on about choking,so yo cant get anxiety brought on from another persons suggestion if your inclined that way too,i think ts a mixture of both,although my mums mum didn't get anything like this so my mums was suggested by my gran on my dads side,i was very young and ive always been this way,so in a way my fears were from another person scaring me nto meaning to of course

[Fishmanpa]

I was just wondering to what extent the number of people who;
1. Were born genetically prone to anxiety
and
2. How many people developed anxiety rather than having actually been genetically anxious

Cheers

I feel the same way as Rennie. There are aspects where one or the other or both could be the catalyst. There are some mental illnesses that are caused by actual chemical imbalances in the brain. Where they born that way or did it come later? It would be interesting to read the biographies of mentally deranged serial killers for instance. Where they exhibiting unstable behavior as a child?

I dated a woman who was bipolar. Her father had been institutionalized from when she was a child. My ex has Major Depressive Disorder. My daughter has depression and anxiety. My son is fine. My Mom has issues. My Dad is fine. My sister has anxiety. I've been fine aside from some reactions to traumatic events.

All that said, I truly do feel that environmental factors (the nurture) aspect really plays into this. It's an interesting subject.

Positive thoughts

[lindadiana]

I agree,my eldest daughter does get anxiety,but she copes very well three kids full time job etc,but I remember really trying not to be an over anxious mother with my first three,my two sons one has always been ok,the other slight panic attaks but nothing major,he died aged 17 from menngitus so I cant say what he would be like now at 33,i think if the parent shows real anxiety over the smallest of things then the chances are the child will be fearful of every twinge,(thats from my own experience)so nurturing does play a vey big part for some people,my sister never had panic attacks until we went on holiday together with my parents and I couldn't sleep,was having panic attacks etc,she hadn't lived with me since before she was married and my behaviour really got to her,she started having them,but thankfully hers were short lived,and she can rationalize way better than I can

[beatroon]

I feel that there is a family component, for sure - but whether that's due to genes or to simply having a shared family culture of anxiety, I can't say!! Intriguing question though, and so fascinating about the epigenetics and neuroplasticity. And encouraging too - none of us is doomed by our genes!

[almamatters]

I do believe that the over half my HA is inherited and the rest I have picked up myself. My dad was known as a 'hypochondriact' and had a lot of medical encyclopedias and books which he read constantly. This led to him diagnosing himself with every illness going and eventually developing anxiety and what is now called Health Anxiety. I followed in my dad's footsteps unfortunately and have added to this behaviour pattern throughout my life. My sister has not got HA, so maybe I just had anxiety tendencies right from my early years.

[cjemc]

I do believe that the over half my HA is inherited and the rest I have picked up myself. My dad was known as a 'hypochondriact' and had a lot of medical encyclopedias and books which he read constantly. This led to him diagnosing himself with every illness going and eventually developing anxiety and what is now called Health Anxiety. I followed in my dad's footsteps unfortunately and have added to this behaviour pattern throughout my life. My sister has not got HA, so maybe I just had anxiety tendencies right from my early years.

Anxiety is definitely inherited in most cases I would say. Just in the same way that intelligence and other traits seem to run in families.

I would find it very odd for an individual with no anxiety suffering family members living or dead to suddenly develop an anxiety disorder.

My anxiety is definitely hereditary regardless of what people on this forum try to say. Anxiety is in my family tree hence why I have had it since I was a toddler. A toddler is too young to understand and grasp anxiety yet I knew from the age of about 3-4 that something was wrong with me, I suffered from severe crying episodes, trouble sleeping and hysteria among other symptoms. This alone is proof enough for me that my anxiety has a genetic component which is why I have a susceptibility to anxiety disorders.
* However I am not denying that biological and environmental factors haven't made my anxiety worse but these factors came after the initial anxiety manifested itself in me from a very early age indeed.

A child of 3-4 years isn't old enough to have experienced any life altering experiences which could explain anxiety and a child of this age is too young to have witnessed any tendencies from their parents which could explain why anxiety had suddenly manifested itself hence my belief of a dominant genetic predisposition to anxiety disorders as a whole.

---------- Post added at 19:20 ---------- Previous post was at 19:15 ----------


I feel that there is a family component, for sure - but whether that's due to genes or to simply having a shared family culture of anxiety, I can't say!! Intriguing question though, and so fascinating about the epigenetics and neuroplasticity. And encouraging too - none of us is doomed by our genes!

It's well known that traits and other factors such as eye, hair colour and even things like musical tastes run in families so why wouldn't mental traits be passed down to? I have always believed this.

---------- Post added at 19:28 ---------- Previous post was at 19:20 ----------


I do believe that the over half my HA is inherited and the rest I have picked up myself. My dad was known as a 'hypochondriact' and had a lot of medical encyclopedias and books which he read constantly. This led to him diagnosing himself with every illness going and eventually developing anxiety and what is now called Health Anxiety. I followed in my dad's footsteps unfortunately and have added to this behaviour pattern throughout my life. My sister has not got HA, so maybe I just had anxiety tendencies right from my early years.

It would appear that you have inherited your Dad's genetic makeup which is a predisposition to HA and maybe GAD. You mention that your sister has not go HA. Could this because she did not inherit as much of your fathers genetic makeup as you have?

My Mum had Anxiety and my Dad had OCD. It appears that I have inherited much more of my mothers traits then my fathers. I am the spitting image of my Mum also so it appears in my case that my mother passed down dominant genes to me!

[Fishmanpa]

There are many that develop mental illness that have no prior history. Look at PTSD cases. Personally, I never had issues until my physical illnesses. I developed some depression after my heart attacks and cancer. I have what I call "scanxiety" which is an anxious state prior to my followup checkups. It manifests itself as irritability and physical symptoms like sore muscles and chest pain which is totally stress related. Neither of which has been debilitating. Treatment was some therapy and a chill pill and some work to get things back on track.

But think about it...Soldiers returning from war, those involved in a traumatic event or serious illness etc... many of which never suffered from mental illness definitely develop it and it's not inherited.

Positive thoughts

[debs71]

When I first saw my GP with my depression/anxiety years ago, the first question she asked was 'does anyone else in your family have a history of mental health issues?'

My Dad did and does, and she said that there is a tendency for mental health problems to be inherited, as it were.

My Dad has had two breakdowns, suffers from phobias, anxiety and panic attacks. I suffer from depression, GAD and panic disorder.

As far as genetics go, I think that has an impact, but in the main I think it is just the type of person I am and my life experiences that have mainly contributed to my mental health issues.