Biological look at anxiety disorders

Anxiety disorders involve everything from acute stress disorder and social phobia to generalized anxiety disorder. Many factors, both biological and environmental, contribute to the development of these disorders. Some of the primary biological factors that influence anxiety disorders include neurobiological functions, genetic makeup and gender.

Neurobiology

• Individuals with anxiety disorders experience above-normal levels of activity in the temporal lobe of their brains, which governs how an individual experiences feelings of fear or anxiety. These people, as a result, perceive stimuli as having elevated emotional importance.

Genetics

• Familial patterns show that anxiety disorders may also have a genetic factor. Individuals with family members who suffer from an anxiety disorder are at a higher risk for developing an anxiety disorder themselves.

Gender

• Gender disparity can be seen in the diagnosis of anxiety disorders as well. Women are twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and agoraphobia. Obsessive-compulsive disorder, however, has equal diagnosis rates between genders.

Prevalence

• Anxiety disorders are the most commonly diagnosed psychiatric disorders. Close to one quarter of the population experiences symptoms of an anxiety disorder during their lives, with 5 percent suffering from generalized anxiety disorder alone.

Prognosis

• Even though anxiety disorders can be overdiagnosed in children and young adults, more than half of clinically diagnosed adults experienced an onset of symptoms prior to age 20. Anxiety disorders are usually chronic, but they vary in severity over a person's life.