View Full Version : Is anxiety/panic hereditary? Plus more questions...
ThreeBee23
15-06-07, 01:16
Have you seen it in your children? If so, in what ways? Is there a way to avoid them experiencing this awful anxiety/panic issue?
Did any of your parents or another relative experience it? In what ways? How did they cope before the invention of modern drugs?
Have you ever talked with your kids (young or adult) about your anxiety/panic issues? How did they react? How about friends or others outside of your family? What were their reactions?
Sorry so many questions, but I am just trying to understand what is going on with me.
I have an 11 year old son, and i see he gets more anxious than the average child. Although, unlike me, he faces his fears and carries on. I believe that if i do not make a huge issue of his anxietys and let him deal with them his way, they will not take such a strong hold on him. He has to play keyboard in front of his whole school in a few weeks. I asked him how he felt, he said nervous but he still wants to do it. He is such a little trooper. I could never have done that at his age.
I think my mum indulged me alot at a young age, and if i was uncomfortable in a situation she would not encourage me to do it. I dont know if that made like i am today, although my anxiety was pretty bad at a young age. I like to encourage my son to face his fears, although i cannot face mine. I also am ther for him if he feels he cannot.
I try not to let my son see me anxious. I never talk to him about my anxiety.Maybe if i had full blown panic attacks i would have to.
I think that anxiety can be heredrity, my mum is quite an anxious person.I can remember her avoiding social things when i was a child. I am not sure if i learnt from her how to behave or its in my genes. I just htink you can feed anxiety and things you learn at a young age stay with you.
I dont talk to friends about my anxiety. but my parents and husband know only too well.
Anyway sorry to waffle. But it is an interesting topic. I could go on but i wont.
Love Josephine.x
My daughter is also 11 and I worry that she'll end up like me. I have always been very open with her about my depression and anxiety as I think a lot of my problems stem from an opressive upbringing where we were not encouraged to talk about how we felt.
I only found out after his death that my father suffered from panic attacks when he was younger.
My daughter seems to take my problems in her stride; she even plays on them sometimes. She announced one day when she didn't want to go to school last week that she wanted 'Mum's life with out the anxiety' as I was staying at home!!
Hi Jo,
This is an intresting topic, there are more like this one on the forum,
I do believe it CAN be in your genes, in your make up, so to speak, BUT THIS DOES NOT MEAN YOU WILL PASS IT ON TO YOUR CHILDREN.
I have had probs all my life, mostly SA probs, like confidence, low self asteam, (working on them) I only came in search of this site when I hit full blown panic and living in fear 24/7. Because of this fab site, I have not had a pa in a long time.
When I had my first child, (my son) I went out my way for him not to be like me. I took him lots of places helped him with his confidence, he went on to school with no probs, he is 17 now with no probs.
My yougher child, (my daughter) I did the same, but when she stared nursery, it all went wrong, she started have what I called at thet time, funny turns, will not go to much in detail, but it took 3 years for them to come up with... pa's, anxiety. I never new at that time, just what pa's, high anxiety was or just how much it can effect a person. I seen my daughter go from being a confident 3 year old, to not wanting to go anywhere. It took me along time, to right the wrong, to change the learned behavour, the behavour that developed from fear of the symptoms she used to get.
She is 13 now, apart from her blip last year, she had a pa in school and it took her 5 months to get back into school, she is doing very well, I am sooo pround of her.
I have talked to my mum about this, she blamed herself for my problems, for not noticing when I was very young. I told her that back then, it was never herd off and in no way was it her falt.
My daughter and I DON'T talk about pa's anxiety. She is a strong young person and will ask for help if she needs it, even last year with school all she ask for was time, time for her mind to heal and thats what we gave her. I did have little chats with her about certain things, but only if she wanted to listen. It was a slow prosses getting her back into school but as we all know on here little steps are the best one's.
As far as I know on my side of the family there are a few of my mums sister who suffer anxiety and on my hubbys side his sister suffers too, with health anxiety.
I have never shown, any of my kids my problems, they never new I had SA or lacked confidence. I have learnd how to hide things very well.
Since finding this site I talked to anyone who will listen or is intrested in pa's, anxiety. I do believe that talking about things really helps. Not only talking to people who suffer pa's, anxiaty, but to none suffers too becuase sometimes you get supprised just how much they have had some of the symptoms you have had.
TAKE CARE
LOVE JILLXX
I think the type of person you are makes you more susceptible to 'learning' the anxiety behaviour. I've generally found that people I know who suffer from anxiety tend to be considerate types / 'thinkers' / compassionate etc. I could elaborate massively on that but maybe you know what I'm getting at?
Mark
Lindalou64
15-06-07, 20:37
Yes My Whole Father Side Has Had This Some Worse Than Others My Boys 18 And 22 Have Experienced It One When He Was 8 With School It Left Him Thankgod,and Now My 22 Has A Phobia Of Eating Out .......i Will Talk Too Him When He Wants To Talk About It Gave Him Some Tips What To Do But I Think We Both Feel Better When We Dont Bring It Up For The Reason Some As Myself Get Anxiety When I Talk To Much About It..............linda Xx
Hi everyone,
I do belive than anxiety and other mental health problems are inherited from family. A doctor once told me that mental health problems are the second most inherited disease after heart problems. I can's say for certain that this is true.
Anxiety and depression come from my father's side of the family. My father's uncle had bipolar depression and my father was always a nervous wreck, however he lived fairly normally until his late sixties. He had a breakdown about ten years ago, spent three months in an psychiatric hospital. He is 76 now and rarely gets out of bed. To be honest he is just waiting to 'pass on'. I sensed as a very young child that my father was nervous and afraid and I never felt protected my him.
My eldest sibling has had schizophrenia from the age of 16 and has never been able to do anything with his life. He is 43 now.
My own probs began at 15 when Ihad my first panic attack. I have had panic, agoraphobia and depression since then. Life is sometimes good but sometimes hell.
So yes, I do think mental health probs are inherited.
Regards
Eibhlin
eeyorelover
15-06-07, 22:12
I do believe that genetics can effect the propensity of anxiety but I also believe that there has to be a triggering event in one's life to bring on panic.
I have talked to my kids about my experiences with anxiety and panic and everyone who knows me knows that I have an issue with both. I tried to hide it for awhile but it just got to be too hard and I absolutely hate to lie and found myself making excuses for my actions and why I couldn't do this or that. I just couldn't lie anymore so I just told everyone and most accepted it and have been semi supportive.
I would say that no one in my immediate family except me has been diagnosed with any mood disorder but in saying that I also will admit that my sister and mother are rather highstrung (that is an understatement!!) and that they have very high highs and extremely low lows!
xxx
Sandy
Research suggests that there is no one answer to the question of nature vs nurture - some people develop anxiety disorders due to life events, and it may be that genetic factors affect how likely or unlikely it is that you'll have this reaction but there's no solid evidence to say there must be a genetic component. Other people may have a strong genetic predisposition to anxiety and in the worst of these cases it would be fair to say the condition is inherited.
I fall into the latter category, as nothing in my past explains why I've had anxiety my whole life. I actually deal very well with traumatic and stressful situations, these don't automatically trigger an episode. I just lose the plot (to varying degrees) for no apparent reason. My mother is the same, but I didn't 'learn' this from her as she has always worked long hours and I was brought up mainly by my very laid-back father.
DavidWilkinson
06-10-10, 10:30
A bit late but here goes:
There is quite a lot of evidence now to show that:
There is a link between anxiety, panic attacks, depression and PTSD.
That in certain situations anywhere between 41% and 66% of these conditions can be hereditary.
There is a full article called "Is Anxiety Hereditary?" here. (http://www.fearcourse.com/articles-and-notes/294-is-anxiety-hereditary.html)
Hope this helps.
Dave
Thanks for this post Threebee23 - I know i'm a bit late too!
This question about is it hereditary has made me wonder for years and it is very interesting. When I was first diagnosed with depression and anxiety years ago my GP asked if anyone in the family had it as it can be inherited.
My Dad has suffered for years with various phobias and anxiety. He has suffered two nervous breakdowns, one of which he had when he was in the navy and had to be airlifted off his ship and spent tiime in a naval psych hospital recovering. He has been the best father in the world to my sister and I, and nobody would ever know that he had these problems, except for us as a family, where some of his phobias have a direct impact on everyday stuff. He has never suffered from depression however.
My GP's opinion was that I had inherited from my father, but I am undecided about this. I was always a shy, nervous child - whereas my sister was confident and super intelligent - and I have gone through most of my life lacking confidence and trying to stay low key. I have always spent a ton of wasted time thinking about things and have a very active imagination, and I really believe that my personality and the fact that I was always quite protected from stuff as a child because of my shyness, has contributed strongly to my anxiety problems. My sister has had no such problems, ever. I have always compared myself to her, and it upsets me greatly that I am such a basket case, and she is so balanced.
My Dad has expressed to me how he feels guilty that I am 'like him', but I have never seen that the total cause of my conditions are inherited. I believe that they stem as much from me as a person and my experiences, and my ability to deal with life stresses, etc. as they do from my genetic make up.
It is a fascinating subject.
A bit late but here goes:
There is quite a lot of evidence now to show that:
There is a link between anxiety, panic attacks, depression and PTSD.
That in certain situations anywhere between 41% and 66% of these conditions can be hereditary.
There is a full article called "Is Anxiety Hereditary?" here. (http://www.fearcourse.com/articles-and-notes/294-is-anxiety-hereditary.html)
Hope this helps.
Dave
I'm sorry, but I've just had a look at the website, and found it to be one of those dodgy money making sites offering something made up and arbitrary to exploit people's despair. Participating on a one day course will set you back 170£, which will give you the opportunity to talk to the "leader" - need I say more....
There is no evidence whatsoever that would support mood disorders being solely caused by genetic factors. On the contrary, the latest research into happiness shows in the latest scientific research study, which was released just a few days ago and carried out over a 25 year period, that happiness and well-being are far less dependent on genetic factors than previously thought, and much more inter-relating to personal attitude and life-style choices.
If anybody is interested, here's a link:
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/09/27/1008612107.full.pdf+html
I definitely think that in my case I have a hereditary component of it. My dad (from what I've been told) had HA, as my mother used to describe him in a derogatory manner as a hypochrondriac. However, I'm sure I didn't learn this behaviour from him as I was only 7 when he died, and for a lot of my life he'd been in hospital with MS, therefore I didn't really have much contact with him.
However, I suspect that my mother also was an axious person when she was younger, although she might well have grown out of it. She used to tell me that she worried about things a lot when she was a young woman, then decided that there was no point as most of the things tht she worried about, she had no control over.
Interestingly though, I have a half-brother (we have different fathers as my mother married twice), and he suffers from appalling social anxiety, so I wonder whether I actually got a double dose of it from both parents.
On the nurture side though, I was bought up to be very cautious, and that really hasn't helped me either as I find it really difficult to take risks.
eeyorelover
06-10-10, 18:34
There is no evidence whatsoever that would support mood disorders being solely caused by genetic factors. On the contrary, the latest research into happiness shows in the latest scientific research study, which was released just a few days ago and carried out over a 25 year period, that happiness and well-being are far less dependent on genetic factors than previously thought, and much more inter-relating to personal attitude and life-style choices.
If anybody is interested, here's a link:
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/09/27/1008612107.full.pdf+html
The study was on happiness NOT anxiety.
'Mood disorders' are in a completely different category!
There are plenty of research studies that say that genetics do play a part in anxiety and related issues!
My GP's opinion was that I had inherited from my father, but I am undecided about this. I was always a shy, nervous child - whereas my sister was confident and super intelligent - and I have gone through most of my life lacking confidence and trying to stay low key. I have always spent a ton of wasted time thinking about things and have a very active imagination, and I really believe that my personality and the fact that I was always quite protected from stuff as a child because of my shyness, has contributed strongly to my anxiety problems. My sister has had no such problems, ever. I have always compared myself to her, and it upsets me greatly that I am such a basket case, and she is so balanced.
My Dad has expressed to me how he feels guilty that I am 'like him', but I have never seen that the total cause of my conditions are inherited. I believe that they stem as much from me as a person and my experiences, and my ability to deal with life stresses, etc. as they do from my genetic make up.
It is a fascinating subject.
You're right Debs, it is. In hindsight, my dad had a lot of mental health issues but I didn't really know that when I was growing up, just was aware that he wasn't like other people's dads and we weren't like other families. I still don't know what was wrong with him really, except that he was addicted to valium at one stage and at one point when I was an adult he seemed to have some sort of psychotic break. My mum has also had anxiety and panic problems at times, perhaps because of the way our life was.
I wish I had known the truth, that what was wrong with my family wasn't my fault. That is why I have tried to be honest with my kids about my stuff, without making a big deal of it.
Of course, I have no way of answering the nature vs nurture thing, because I can't separate whether there is a genetic reason for me being the way I am, or if it's because of the circumstances I grew up in.
One thing that always amazes me is how different children born to the same parents can be (I'm an only child).
The study was on happiness NOT anxiety.
'Mood disorders' are in a completely different category!
There are plenty of research studies that say that genetics do play a part in anxiety and related issues!
If you knew anything about positive psychology, i.e. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and how it works, you would have realised that happiness or contentment are following the same attitudinal principles which lead to a similar outcome, and are therefore NOT in a completely different category.
It's not rocket science, and people got the gist of it long before CBT even existed:
"He can who thinks he can, and he can't who thinks he can't. This is an inexorable, indisputable law." Henry Ford
eeyorelover
06-10-10, 20:42
Ok here's the deal....
I am up for debating, exchanging info, and it's fine for someone to tell me that I've got it wrong and EXPLAIN it to me...
HOWEVER, being rude and condescending will get you only one thing from me....
A detailed instructional on how you can go straight to hell!!
I can draw you a map if you need one!
My Grandfather was injured on the Somme and suffered from depression and anxiety episodes for the rest of his life. However, I remember him as an intelligent, compassionate and extremely caring gentleman. I suppose his anxiety was triggered by PTSD.
My mother became ill in her early fifties with severe anxiety. She had also had several 'traumas' in her life. This was 30 years ago and her condition was treated as something to be kept within the family and to be slightly ashamed of.This probably didn't help her.
I had my first anxiety episode 25 years ago whilst pregnant with my first child and suffering a family tragedy at the same time.
I have had a few episodes since then culminating in my worst one over the last few months. I have been on the verge of a breakdown recently and have done everything I can to help myself. I have found that by talking to other people I am not the only one who has been through all this.
I regard myself as an extremely caring and sensitive person and I think this is typical of people with anxiety problems. We are the kindest most caring and sensitive people in the world and will do anything for anyone. We also worry and care too much and maybe that is our downfall.
Yes, I do think anxiety is hereditary.
olderfella
06-10-10, 21:17
I never gave it a thought that anxiety & panic could be hereditary as to my knowledge non of my grandparents or parents suffered from it and i have only had it for the last 3yrs,but one of my older sons started with it last year and finished up in hospital for 2mths he still on lots of medication and the doctors say he also has symptoms of bi-polar is this down to me?:huh:
YES!!! I've been told that anxiety and panic disorder are more likely to have a hereditary link...
My Dad committed suicide...the Coroner announcing Manic Depression as the cause. My Grandfather suffered from depression, and spent many months in a psychiatric hospital. My Uncle on my Mum's side had schizophrenia, and went on to develop alzheimer's, my Mum passed away from Dementia.
I've been diagnosed as Bipolar, and have GAD, SAD, and depression, conditions for which I've been hospitalised many times.
I have a twin sister who has no such problems, but yet my elder sister has OCD and Depression...:wacko:
A coincidence - I think NOT!
Sue x
When I saw my doctor last, we had a good discussion about drug treatments (I don't really want to be taking tablets for my anxiety - I don't want to be dependant on them for the rest of my life so trying to stear clear) as she was explaining how the drugs work though to me she mentioned that people with such anxiety tend to have a missing brain chemical - this can pass through families aparently... My mum also has had anxiety in the past, my gran, my dad, but what I find really interesting is that I have relations that I have never met, they live in another part of the country to me that also have the exact anxiety that I have! I really do believe it is inherited but that also life experiences can either make it worse/better etc. Also the type of person/personality you have probably effects it too I think. As I said before, I'm against the medication because of personal choice but I do think it does work for some (my mum as an example) but I mostly believe it's about learning to deal with the anxiety/symptoms/thoughts & feelings and just basically having more experience with coping. It's hard, but what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger!
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