It’s a common belief that people with anxiety disorder have excessive catecholamine activity. This means that they are prone to feeling of hypersensitivity and nervousness. It is also concluded that these people have less endorphin activity.

            I don’t believe that anxiety is solely a biochemical imbalance that must be handled with medication. In fact, some medications can make your symptoms worse. Since endorphins help us control the way we think and respond, we are personally capable of creating more endorphins and of reducing our catecholamine activity.

Environment plays a significant role in anxiety disorders. Did you have a mother who constantly worried? Did your parents expect you always to be perfect? Did you grow up with strict religious beliefs? Was your family environment dysfunctional? Was there any separation from a significant person in your life as a child?  It can be helpful to realize that some of these environmental situations could create anxious attitudes and a tendency toward problems with anxiety and depression.

Anxiety disorder tends to run in families. This means you might have a mother, father, grandparent, or sibling with anxiety problems. Did you grow up with someone who had problems with anxiety and depression? Did someone in your family suffer silently with panic and obsessive thoughts? Did they use “nerve pills” or alcohol to self medicate?

            I have discovered that alcoholism does not create anxiety. My father didn’t become anxious because he abused alcohol.

We are living in stressful times. That’s true. But we have been here before, many times. And there is always something to worry about. So how do you feel safe? If you let the outside world determine your feelings of safety or justify your worrying, you will never feel safe. Now is the time to take control of your emotions and stop letting the outside world define who you are.

As awful as your anxiety may be, it probably gives you a great excuse not to do things that you know in your heart you would like to do. This is a very difficult realization, but a necessary one. It took me a while to realize that, although it was uncomfortable, I was using my anxiety disorder as a familiar and easy way out. Ask yourself if, perhaps on a subconscious level, your anxiety is keeping you from doing something that feels too challenging to deal with.