What is the root cause of anxiety and panic attacks?

What is the root cause of anxiety?

There’s a lot of theories out there about the root causes of anxiety. Here are some examples:

1)        Biological theories- anxiety is linked to our neurotransmitters (GABA, serotonin and dopamine and norepinephrine) being dysregulated. There is either not enough or too much of the combo

2)        Brain structures- dysfunction in brain regions like amygdala, prefrontal cortex, hippocampus

3)        Genetics- the theory is that anxiety runs in the family

4)        Stressful life events

5)         Insecure attachemnts- fear of rejection or abandonment

6)        Negative thought patterns

7)        Epigenetics

8)        Gut brain disconnect

 Ok, this is my take….. take it with a grain of salt. I am highly influenced by Gabor Mate, a renowned physician and researcher that is an expert on addition and childhood trauma.

What is the root cause of anxiety?

The root cause of anxiety is unresolved childhood experiences.  

Let me explain….

What is an example of an unresolved childhood experience that turns into a coping experience?

When young kids have their sense of safety threatened/taken away in any way (it could be real safety or perceived safety), they send out a call for help. They sound their alarm systems. Fear has a positive purpose. When a child feels fear, they start crying or yelling for help.

What do nurturing caregivers do? Nurturing, securely attached parents respond appropriately to the child. They comfort, validate, acknowledge, assure the child. The child calms down and immediately, their cortisol level goes down. This is the positive purpose of fear—fear causes the child to cry for help and then the caregiver comes and helps the child comfort and then the stress response cycle is complete in the child because they return to their pre-fear baseline.

What happens to a person who is taught or conditioned to ignore their child when they are crying?The natural fear that causes a person to cry and might bring the parent to come help, becomes imbedded in the child when the caregivers doesn’t come to help and soothe.

What does it mean to have the fear imbedded in the child?

When the child’s fearful feelings are not soothed, comforted, adequately witnessed, these feelings don’t disappear. They get stored inside the body as “unresolved stress/tension”

The body then becomes hypervigilant and the imbedded fear adds to the child’s baseline. They are now on high alert and experience chronic fearfulness, worry and anxiety.

How does all of this lead to anxiety as an adult?

1)        Unresolved fear becomes chronic and heightens nervous system baseline- The nervous system remains in a state of heightened arousal. Over time, this baseline of hypervigilance becomes the norm. It doesn’t receive signals to relax and return to safety (the child’s body might be tense or experience rapid breathing, even in safe situations).

2)        The nervous system learns “anxiety” as the new baseline- the body is wired to perceive danger, even if none exists. It is working overtime to constantly scan the environment for danger

3)        Emotional suppression and accumulation- children begin to suppress their new fearful feelings in order to cope with neglect or invalidation. They also suppress their natural ability to process and resolve emotions. This suppression creates confusion and stress…. Which transforms into vague anxiety because the underlying emotion remains unaddressed. Each new instance of unaddressed fear adds to the “stress bucket”. The body becomes a container to hold unaddressed fears and then it snowballs to where the individual feels overwhelmed without a sense of clarity about the source of the anxiety.

In summary, fear is a positive coping mechanisms. It says to the child and their caregivers, “I need more attention and connection. I need help returning to a sense of safety in my body and I don’t know how to do it on my own.” When this coping mechanism fails to get the attention of the child’s caregiver, it morphs into generalized anxiety about the world.

The truth is that there should be some sense of healthy fear and anxiety towards one’s surroundings. I grew up in NYC. I learned from an early age to trust my fears and to run if I saw someone following me. But this is not what I’m talking about…. I’m talking about why do some of us seem to have an anxious reaction when there are NO threats of safety around?

Anxiety is not a response to anything external, but it is a response to the accumulated unresolved fears that have been imbedded  throughout one’s life.

What are some practical applications for you, or your loved ones, if they are struggling with anxiety?

1)        Take a good look at your childhood. Anxiety is the desperate cry of some childhood part of you that is trying to get connection and attention. The anxiety is a normal response to whatever happened to us in our childhood.

a.        Work with a practitioner well versed in Internal Family Systems or Compassionate Inquiry or something similar to gently and lovingly get to know the part of you that experienced fear and had it go unmet.

b.        This is my bias- don’t work with a practitioner that is solely working on reframing your negative beliefs, or simply examining your childhood from a navel gazing standpoint, but work with someone who is adept with speaking to your inner child parts.

2)        If you have anxiety that is debilitating, it is helpful to stabilize first and to find some short term coping skills as a foundation to your healing work so when re-triggering memories are brought up, you have some coping skills that are already practiced

3)        Deepen your relationships with your friends and loved ones while you’re doing your healing work. You will need your support system to help you if you are re-triggered

4)        Find a therapist that you feel safe with and can understand some of your family/cultural background and can practice humility when they don’t. When you feel safe with someone, you can release a sense of control of the process and that is when the magic happens (this is true in psychedelic work too).

5)        Psychedelic work is also great for clients who struggle with anxiety. Work with someone who is experienced in this and have good reviews from others.

Book a call with me here if you want to do this work. Looking forward to hearing from you!