Is Anxiety Genetic?

Anxiety is a condition that millions of people suffer from all over the world. In some cases, it can lead to certain compulsive disorders, panic attacks, and a lot of other mental troubles. There are different causes for anxiety and anxiety attacks, and lately, many people have been questioning if anxiety is genetic. In other words, did you inherit it from your parents or grandparents? We decided to search through the research and find some answers to that question.

Individual environmental researchers attribute anxiety to ecological backgrounds. These factors include home settings, peer groups, and who the individual was in close contact with as they were growing up. Aka, it’s down to the question of nature versus nurture.

However, research reveals that the function of the brain where certain mental conditions like anxiety and depression stem from are inherited. This is where factors like societal exposure and family circles come into play. These factors can either reduce or compound the risk of an anxiety disorder. In essence, genetics can lay the foundation on which anxiety can exist, and each individual faces about a 30% risk of having a generalized anxiety disorder based on a hereditary predisposition.

Factors like traumatic events and social experiences affect anxiety. Scientists who research genetic contribution to anxiety have to reconcile societal influence, and while a link exists, we’re still not clear on the exact causes.

Three in ten individuals with anxiety may have had parents or relatives who suffer from anxiety. As it stands right now, genetics don’t seem to be the primary source of anxiety, and we’re currently sitting on a lot of research conducted by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) to prove this to be true.

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