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Are anxiety and panic attacks hereditary?

Is anxiety at a problematic level hereditary? Without wanting to sound like a lawyer, I have to say that the answer is yes. And no.

Sorry, but the data are just not in on a firm answer one way or another. Just because you have episodes of out-of-the-blue panic, or just because you have high levels of anxiety, doesn’t mean that you’ve inherited those responses.

Many of the people who come to me with anxiety problems have extended families filled with exciting, excitable, interesting and vivacious people with all sorts of anxiety problems. Then again, just many clients who have worrying levels of anxiety about public speaking or more generally, come from families who look like they invented the term ‘calm’ then added ‘cool’ and ‘collected’ to it.

In other words, my own empirical data don’t support the idea that of a strong genetic pre-disposition either way. As someone who is scrupulous about research methods, I'm most certainly not suggesting that my random observations constitute proper research methods. I'm always cross when I come across someone making pronouncements based on their unmonitored observations of a small group with no control groups.

The anxiety gene
As many of you know, either through your own experience, or as the friend of someone who experiences them, panic attacks occur at random and usually out-of-the-blue. Of course if a person experiences great panic in a particular setting, a cinema (movie theater) or in an elevator, then there will be a predictability about the way s/he'll respond next time they're in an elevator or they're invited to the movies.

Either way, whether unexpected or anticipated, panic episodes can really destroy a person's confidence about moving freely in the world. I'll write more about in the next Oasis of Calm but I do want to report that early this century, scientists at the Centre for Medical and Molecular Biology in Barcelona discovered the genetic basis for most panic attacks.

According to one article I read in www.irishhealth.com "they found that a small region on chromosome 15 was duplicated in 90% of affected family members. The duplicated region, known as DUP25, contains more than 60 genes, of which only 23 have so far been identified.

According to the scientists, DUP25 appears to increase the risk of anxiety disorders. They are now trying to identify exactly which genes are responsible. This could lead to the development of drugs that suppress those genes, however this may take a number of years.

Besides, I'm not at all sure that drugs which suppress genes are necessarily the best route to take. By all means, I understand how upsetting and sometimes devastating panic can be. But there are many highly successful strategies you can use if anxiety and panic attacks are part of what makes you the wonderful person you are. It's a bit like the world in Gattaca isn't it? Perfect beings via genetic engineering.

If you want to read more, the New Scientist website is a great place to start.

For now, may I suggest that whether you have a strong genetic disposition to anxiety or not, the main name of the game is this. You can conquer your anxiety so that it becomes a natural motivating factor in your life, not a black leaden mass which smothers your joy. That's why I wrote Calming Words !!

Article Source: http://www.uberarticles.com/articles

Based in Melbourne Australia, Dr Jeannette Kavanagh works as a solution-oriented counsellor and coach helping people who have anxiety and panic attacks, particularly when speaking or performing in public. Sign up here for your FREE e-zine Oasis of Calm www.calmingwords.com/ezine_login.html

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