I don't know if I am genetically predisposed to anxiety but I know my personality type is more prone to worry and depression. I just read an article in the March 2008 Oprah magazine. It quotes a reasearcher that studies the brain structures behind anxiety, depression & addiction. He concludes that even though a person might be born with a predisposition toward gloominess or anxiety, the emotional floor plan can be altered. With training you can coax a fretful mind toward a happier outlook. The article ended saying: "If you want to be a good tennis player, you can't just pick up a racket you have to practice."

I get a little (ok- A LOT) nervous when anyone associates genetic predisposition to depression and anxiety, since my mother and grandmother suffer(ed) severely from both. I'm probably way off, but I believe that much of today's depression is circumstancial, and Dr.'s are all too willing to "fix" this with Rx instead of refering a patient to cognative behavior therapy. (Both my grandma and mom had pretty intense circumstances to overcome.)

As far as anxiety, I feel that (and my psychologist agrees) it is a learned behavior. By observing others who are unable to cope with life situations, we never learn how to either.

The bottom line, I truly believe we can all overcome depression (so long as it's not a chemical imbalance) and anxiety with the correct attitude and skills.

fischee
Love the tennis quote!

I believe that too. Both my mom and dad have anxiety, worry, depression, panic attacks, but they have never sought help. Now that I've been participating in this program, I have noticed how negative they are, how afraid they are of just about everything. My mother worries constantly, she won't go anywhere without my father. My father is afraid of flying, he doesn't like to go anywhere or do anything. He's constantly worried about his job and he doesn't even like his job. I am not like this but I have lived in this environment my whole life. It was all that I knew. Now that I'm standing on the outside, I can see all this. I have made some real positive changes in my attitude and I am feeling better.

In my opinion this genetically predisposition to anxiety is crap...you want to know who has this? They are called human beings. Do you honestly think that people are born knowing how to react to those external stressors in a way that keeps them from going through anxiety? I highly doubt that.

Secondly if you didn't have anxiety well you prolly wouldn't be excited about anything either. Have you ever had positive feelings about this great event that you were going to go to that you know would be alot of fun but you just couldn't wait for it to happen? Thats anxiety too. Because you are anxious to get to the fun stuff. Going to an amusement park and getting on roller coasters and have that nervous feeling but doing it anyways and having fun....that nervous feeling is anxiety as well.

The biggest part of anxiety or any habit we have is what is the meaning that we give it?

We may have gotten these traits from our parents or immediate environment but I really feel that we were taught it since when we are kids we were constantly emulating the people around us...Thats great news too!!! See whatever we learn we can unlearn.

Mike

Hi Ninja:
I kind of go along with your ideas. I believe
we can unlearn some of the stuff we've just taken for granted up to now. We just get in the habit of accepting certain behaviors that we learned. We probably weren't born with all those behaviors.
Anyway, I enjoyed reading what you wrote.
I like to get other's perspectives.
I grew up with a lot of siblings. I picked up a lot of views that weren't necessarily true.
I've had to unlearn a lot thru' the years.
I'm not fully there yet.
But am making progress.
Thanks.
MJ

You are right ninja. Anxious people anticipate bad situations a lot more fearful than others and anxious people also get excited a lot more than others about positive fun events. We are very passionate when our anxious feelings are turned into excitement.
My father suffered with anxiety, so I do believe that we have predisposition, but I also believe that it can be overturned with counseling such as this program. My biggest problem I'm working on is the fear of fainting. I have this ridiculous idea that if i'm too anxious, I will faint. This keeps me anxious and it makes me sick to my stomach.

Yeca

Hi Ninja: love what u wrote... very positive and true also.. U seem young and I love that even more. Ur words have a lot of meaning and help me out today.. thanks.. I am on session 3 of the program...trying to really put this positives thoughts to work, not just in paper..

i'm happy that my post has helped you Keanna...however i did come off a little rude in the beginning and i appologize for that. Life is about perception and when it all comes down to it...there is only one question you could ask about whatever the thing or situation is

...is it pain or is it pleasure?

Thinking positive is good but i really think its only half the battle. Focusing on the good things in life is very important but things that aren't so good need attention too...like house chores...or confrontations with your boss...if you don't want to do those things...have you linked pain or pleasure to it?

If you want to motivate yourself to do anything...be it quit smoking, get to sleep earlier whatever...change how feel about it....link more pain into continuing whatever cycle and more pleasure to changing it and you can change your life.

Mike

Both my parents have anxiety, and who knows? There may be a small genetic "predisposition" to becoming anxious and depressed. But, like the argument of nature vs. nurture, your environment dictates more of your behaviors and habits than your genes. I grew up in a house with a severely anxious/depressed mother who's problems went undiagnosed throughout my entire childhood. I learned my behavior from her. When we were out of lettuce so we couldn't have salads with our pizza, she threw the lettuce across the room. If she wanted me to go check the mail she would crack open the front door and watch me in case someone tried to kidnap me. She had no balance when it came to determining the appropriate amount of energy needed for a given situation, so neither do I. I used to freak out at the tiniest things, but it's because that's how I know to react. I'm only now learning to stay calm and assign the "appropriate" amount of energy to the situation. Instead of freaking out, I try to figure out how I can solve the situation. Or even IF i can. If not, it's time to stop worrying because there's nothing I can do anyway.

Anxiety is a learned behavior, however I do believe depression and mental illness runs in families (my mother is living proof)!

it can be difficult to break the habits that we got from our families but it isn't impossible...i've experienced it...the trick is to believe that you can do something about it and to avoid thoughts like how its something genetic so there is nothing i can do...don't limit yourself...we are beings with unlimited potential.

I believe that there is genetic predisposition to anxiety. My mom had anxiety and my sister and I both ended up with it. Our brother is fine, and he grew up with the same set of parents. Of my own 3 children, our son who looks the most like me, is a worrier. I feel badly that he is like this, because I know what it is like. He's almost 7 and has been worrying since he was 4-5 (it started with an overflowing toilet, and he started worrying about all toilets). We can be in a car and near an embankment and he will say, "oh no, what if our car falls in!). Our second child couldn't car less! The third is a baby and hopefully she will be like #2.
I try to help him the best that I can and try not to let the kids know when I am anxious. When I took my first plane ride (across the country no less), my husband said he couldn't tell that I was nervous. I wanted our kids not to be afraid of it. Growing up, I always heard my mom say, "I would never get on an airplane, if you crash there is no way you can live, ect." Or on ferry boats I remember her asking me when I was about 9 or 10, "Do you ever worry that you will just jump off into the water?" I hadn't up to THAT point. I make sure to NEVER say things like that to my kids. I know my mom was just trying to see if others shared her thoughts, but it only made things worse for me!

Anyhow, take care!
Ocean

I believe there is a genetic predisposition to anxiety and depression also. But I also think negative thinking is a learned behavior. In Session 3 they say that if we learned negative thinking we can then learn positive thinking. But it got me to thinking about who we learned this negative thinking from. Most likely our parents. And that made me feel weird thinking that my parents taught this way of thinking to me. I do know that my father was slightly agoraphopic and anxious. All five of us kids have varying degrees of anxiety issues. Not sure if that means it's in our genes or that our parents "taught" it to us. Kind of sad to me to think my parents taught me to be this way though.

I really believe that the disposition for "anxiety" is a family trait that can be passed on. However, how we deal with it is a learned behavior that can be changed. I can spot people who struggle with anxiety and what I always considered "the creative brain" I've seen successful people and the worst. I myself have learned to deal with it in a poor way that's why I am here. But it has not always been that way. Yes, I have always been anxious but not always a basket case.
I am an artist. Many who struggle with this are. Van Gogh, he had the same stuggles. But, this thing that's hard for us to learn to deal with is also the thing that makes us succssful in what we do. We have to think positive. I can analyze negetive things to death and get myself all worked up, or I can analyze the world around me and make beautiful art. It really is how you look at it. We are the thinkers and creators and when we can see that this weakness can really be a strenghth we can accomplish so much.