Factors That Have an Effect on Anxiety Disorders

Although the anxiety disorders have distinct forms, all of them are the same in one aspect – persistent and extreme fear or worrying (Whiteside et al. The condition usually becomes alarming because the frequency and severity of the reactions can undermine or disrupt the daily productivity and routine of an individual. This paper aims at explaining the factors affecting anxiety disorders and how the condition affects the everyday lives of people. Keywords: Anxiety Disorder, Severe, Phobia, Panic, Compulsions, Social Inhibitions Introduction Anxiety is part and parcel of humans. In the short-term, it raises people’s heart rate and breathing rate, concentrating the flow of blood to people’s brains, where it is needed. It is diagnosed when severe worry about various things lasts 6 months or longer.

When one has a mild case, they are probably capable of functioning somewhat normally. More extreme cases might have profound effect on the life of people. Social anxiety disorder refers to a paralyzing social situations’ fear and of being humiliated or judged by other people. This extreme social phobia might leave a person feeling alone and ashamed. Phobias create powerful urges of avoiding the feared situations or objects. Lastly, panic disorders cases panic attacks, and spontaneous feelings of terror, impending doom, or anxiety (Buss & Kiel, 2013). The physical signs include chest pains, breath shortness, and heart palpitations, to mention just a few. Such attacks might repeat themselves at any moment. People having any form of anxiety condition can have the panic attacks.

b. Biochemical Alterations within the Brain According to Garcia-Lopez et al. (2014), there is a relationship between some neurotransmitters’ concentrations within the brain and anxiety disorders’ onset. Neurotransmitters are usually produced by neurons and certain glands, like the adrenals and pituitary gland, and act as the messengers between the remainder of the body and the nervous system. Once produced, the neurotransmitters attach to explicit membrane receptors, like the keys that fit in their respective locks; thus, initiating distinctive chemical changes and responses in the cells. Epigenetics studies the way the environment may result in the deactivation or activation of some genes (Garcia-Lopez et al. The methylation of DNA is among the most customary ways cells usually turn off the genes in reaction to the environmental changes.