[Guest]

I have suffered from anxiety for many years and at the age of 41, through trial and error, am finally understanding this condition and what I can do about it.

My mother was wracked with anxiety and self medicated herself with alcohol. She would start the day yelling and remain in that state whenever we were within sight. I never could predict her mood. I realized this was not normal behavior and spent a lot of time outside our household, but am still constantly jolted by fear and the unknown (I call it getting hit with a cattle prod).

Through my career I worked in high stress situations that involved international travel and large amounts of responsibility. It actually was my comfort zone to be tightly scheduled with many projects going at once. I would start the morning with straight shots of espresso. If sleep was a problem I would take whatever medication I could find, with valium being the drug of choice (it is available over the counter in Hong Kong). My behavior was always hidden and my output so high that it would oten be rewarded with raises and promotions.

Finally I realized the joke was on me and I could not live a lifetime like this. I made huge changes including getting married in my 30's. Next I had a child, but the anxiety only seemed to get worse. I then made a huge environmental change and moved from a metropolitan city to a small town, which is where I had a breakdown after the birth of my second child. IT WAS AWFUL.

I have tried everything over the years including meditation yoga, acupuncture, message, psychologists and perscription drugs (clonopine, celexa, prozac, ativan, trazadone and buspar). Buspar has been the most recent and actually seems to help.

My question is, how much of this condition is related to genetics and how much is related to environment (the old nature vs. nurture theory)? I have tried everything to get over the past but it continues to haunt me - or is most of this actually an inherited predisposition to fear?

[Guest]

This can be studied for a population, but it cannot really be known in an individual. We know that most psychiatric disease has a huge genetic component. Yet even in Schizophrenia, identical twins will only share the diagnosis 80 % of the time despite being genetically identical. They have had different experiences beginning in the uterus. In Anxiety disorder and Panic Disorder, there is a huge genetic predeliction. Yet, your experience as a youth was anxiety provoking. Also, your mothers behavior was also genetically influenced. So we can say in all people with Anxiety Disorder, genetics contribute highly. We cannot say in any given individual what the exact contribution is.
[quote] I have suffered from anxiety for many years and at the age of 41, through trial and error, am finally understanding this condition and what I can do about it.

My mother was wracked with anxiety and self medicated herself with alcohol... [/quote]

[Guest]

Since there is not any way to change genetics, is the best bet to change the chemical balance in the brain with medication? And if so, what sort of long term risks are associated?
[quote] This can be studied for a population, but it cannot really be known in an individual. We know that most psychiatric disease has a huge genetic component... [/quote]