Common Ways People Form Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety disorders can develop at any point in a person's life. This can make these mental health issues sticky and challenging to track and comprehend.
Understanding why people include anxiety disorders can help you see the full scope of their Anxiety and what causes them to experience such extreme emotional distress.
Understanding common ways people develop anxiety disorders can help provide a complete picture of why someone may be experiencing life-altering anxiety issues.
Common Way 1: The person has a strong aversion to a specific situation or object.
Phobias, or intense fears of specific situations or objects, are common causes of anxiety disorders. Anxiety often arises in people with phobias due to the thought or possibility of encountering their specific fear trigger.
For example, a person with emetophobia, or the fear of vomiting or seeing others vomit, can be highly anxious because the person with the fear constantly wonders whether they will see someone vomit in real life or on television.
“The prospect of encountering their phobia anywhere in the world is enough to cause intense Anxiety.”
A full-blown anxiety disorder can develop around the fear over time, especially if the person does not seek therapy or treatment for the phobia.
Common Way 2: The individual experienced significant trauma at some point.
Trauma is a significant contributor to anxiety disorders. Different people experience and process trauma differently; for example, something that isn't traumatizing to one person may be excruciating and difficult for another.
“When something is described as traumatic, it means that whatever happened was so terrifying and scarring that it left a permanent mental reminder of the event in the person's mind.”
Post-traumatic stress disorder is another term for trauma anxiety (PTSD). Many people associate PTSD with military personnel who have witnessed distressing, horrifying combat scenes.
While this is true for many service members, PTSD can affect anyone who sees something troubling or frightening, regardless of age or circumstance.
Common Way 3: The individual had a negative social interaction.
Bad experiences with social interactions can lead to the development of social Anxiety.
Social Anxiety, also known as social phobia, is characterized by extreme stress and worries about interactions with other people.
Anxiety can be triggered by speaking engagements, interactions with strangers, or phone calls, to name a few.
“Social Anxiety can develop after a person has a negative social interaction, such as embarrassing themselves in front of a crowd or being bullied by a group of peers.”
Once those emotions have settled, these hostile social interactions cement a fear of being social, causing the person to associate social interactions with stress.
Common Way 4: The person has recently experienced a major life-altering event or change.
When a person is forced to make significant life changes, developing Anxiety issues is a possibility.
“As a person's world shifts in the aftermath of an essential life-altering event or change, it isn't easy to feel anything familiar or stable as they learn to navigate life again and establish a new sense of normalcy.”
This can cause a great deal of Anxiety and stress.
Some examples of life-altering events and changes are...
A close friend or relative's death A sudden accident or injury Moving to a new, unfamiliar place Losing a job Starting a new career Becoming a parent
Common Way 5: The person is dealing with an ongoing personal issue that cannot be resolved quickly.
Humans are fantastic problem solvers; they enjoy finding quick solutions to problems to return to a state of balance and homeostasis in their lives.
However, life can be challenging to repair and navigate, and people frequently encounter issues that cannot be resolved quickly.
Anxiety can develop when a person encounters a problem that cannot be resolved quickly. Some examples of these issues are...
Financial stress can be an illness or injury that requires time to cure or treat. Job stress issues with a family member, such as a child struggling in school
In situations like these, solutions are only sometimes immediate or obvious. Anxiety can develop when a person learns to live with daily stress and navigate these problems slowly.
Common Way 6: The individual has a personality type that is more prone to anxiety issues.
Some people's personalities make them more prone to developing Anxiety issues. For example, most people fall into two major personality types: introverted and extroverted.
“Extroverts enjoy being social. They aren't afraid to express their opinions, meet new people, or be vulnerable in front of others.”
On the contrary, introverts are the polar opposite, being more reserved, shy, and quiet. They may suppress their personalities until they are at ease in their surroundings.
While thousands of factors influence the complexities of a human being's personality formation, these two rough divisions of comfort with sociability can affect a person's likelihood of developing an anxiety disorder. Introverts are more likely to be anxious.
Common Way 7: The individual's family has a history of anxiety issues.
Anxiety also has a genetic component. If you have a family history of anxiety disorders, you are more likely to develop one.
“Many believe that mental health problems are solely the result of their experiences, but this is not the case.”
While certain events can cause mental health problems, specific genetic markers can make people more likely to develop mental health problems throughout their lives.
Some people are born with a disposition to be more easygoing and relaxed, while others are born with a tendency to worry and fret.
References:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/anxiety/symptoms-causes/syc-20350961
