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What are the Causes of Anxiety?


Anxiety isn’t caused from just one single thing. The causes of anxiety are often a combination of different areas of your life that are getting on top of you and creating stress.

Unmanaged stress can cause anxiety

If you are experiencing more stress than usual in your daily life and it continues untreated it will lead to anxiety that is hard to shake off. Allowing stress to build and build without addressing the source makes us feel overwhelmed and unable to cope well with our day to day activities.

This further compounds and we lose trust in our ability to cope. The less we trust ourselves, the more anxiety builds and before we know it we are on a merry-go-round, responding to all aspects of our life with an anxious approach.

Our bodies have ways of communicating with us to let us know that we may be too stressed and out of balance, which essentially means our input is too small and our output is too much. Causes of anxiety are often related to extending ourselves too thin and over-working, over-worrying, over-thinking, over-exercising and not nourishing ourselves enough with downtime or tasks that give us a sense of relaxation and calm, to keep ourselves flexible and adaptable to life’s daily events.

Other causes of anxiety

Family issues

Family relationships can be a big source of stress for many people. Relationship difficulties, divorce, parental problems, teenagers and other family relationships that are currently difficult can create anxiety.

Financial issues and changes

If your financial situation has changed and you find yourself struggling to meet your financial commitments, this creates stress and worry and can be a cause of anxiety.

New job or business

New jobs or a new business is bound to create some stress and concern, especially if you need to learn new skills and continue to be productive.

Trauma – emotional or physical

If you have experienced a traumatic emotional or physical event, then this will have some post-trauma anxiety that you may need to work through. These may be events such as the loss of a loved one, financial loss or a personal accident that you may still be recovering from – physically emotionally.

Family modelling

Anxiety is not a genetic trait but it can be modelled in families as a way of coping with life. Worrying about everything and continuing to focus on the problem rather than finding constructive resolution can be taught as a coping mechanism, even though it is ineffectual.  Also, people who are perfectionists, have high expectations of themselves, want to control everything and feel easily overwhelmed, are more likely to experience anxiety.

Diet and nutritional deficiencies

There is increasing evidence that our mood is related to our gut health. The natural “good” bacteria in our gut regulates the absorption and dissemination of important nutrients and if this gut bacteria is disturbed, this important process is compromised which may be a cause of anxiety.

A healthy diet underpins all aspects of wellbeing – mental, emotional and physical.

Moving homes

Moving to a new home is uncomfortable for most of us. It is a big change that we would rather do as few times as possible throughout our lives.

Physical health issues

If you have ongoing physical health problems then these will naturally be a cause of anxiety and worry, especially if you have not yet found a manageable solution.

Alcohol and drugs

If you use alcohol and drugs to alleviate your anxiety, then you are only delaying any improvement and aggravating the effects of anxiety after the alcohol or drugs leave your system.

Don’t make yourself wrong for experiencing anxiety – it happens 

When life deals us cards that may include one or more of the above, then we are going to feel anxiety, and this is totally normal. Life happens, problems happen and if you find yourself in such a situation it may be a case of doing your best to manage it with professional help until a clearer way forward appears.

There is no magic bullet to dealing with and healing anxiety, it is a combination of the stress triggers becoming less and finding ways to become more resilient. The Japanese have an old proverb about bamboo. Bamboo will move with the slightest winds, swaying back and forth as winds, no matter how gentle or strong they are, will come and go, all the time staying firmly rooted in the ground. No matter what is going on in your life, you can learn to stay grounded but sway easier with the winds of life and this way you will develop more resilience. Don’t let the causes of anxiety control you, with time you can turn it around and hop out of the “cause and effect” cycle.

Want to start taking steps toward mental health? Sign up with Brain9D


Brain9D is an all-in-one brain health platform that tracks your brain’s changes, detects potential problems and provides avenues for improving mental health. Sign up today and become a member of the Brain9D community.

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