Can Anxiety Be Caused by a Chemical Imbalance?

Anxiety can be regarded as one of the main causes of depression, because it can make it difficult for a person to be comfortable with themselves, around people or even outside of their home. There appear to be many different causes of anxiety, which can sometimes make it difficult for people to quickly figure out the exact cause of their anxiety. It is sometimes caused by past trauma, by environmental factors or even by a person's brain chemistry. Research is still being done, but it appears that some people with anxiety experience it as a result of an imbalance of certain chemicals in their brain.

For people who don't seem to have any clear reason of why they might be suffering from anxiety on a regular basis, it is thought that they could be suffering from a chemical imbalance in the brain. There are a number of chemicals in the brain that can affect a person in such a way if the right levels are not present, including chemicals like serotonin, cortisol, epinephrine and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). When all the chemicals are present at the right level in a person's brain, chances are that this is not the cause of their anxiety; however, if a person has too much or too little of one or more of these chemicals, it could quite possibly be the reason for their anxiety. Tests are still being done on why someone would have this problem, but there is treatment available for anyone with this kind of imbalance. There are different medications offered to patients with these kinds of imbalances that can help to correct the imbalance and ward off some of the anxiety they are experiencing.

Anyone who has questions or concerns about possibly suffering from anxiety should seriously consider consulting a therapist or counselor. Many will avoid doing this because they don't feel comfortable, or even feel a little anxious about going in to see a therapist or counselor in person. There is an answer to this problem; online therapy. Online therapy has been around for a while now and is becoming more popular all the time. People with concerns of a mental health nature can now look for a therapist online and then message the counselor they find. The online therapist or counselor will then answer any questions or concerns the patient may have through e-mail. The therapist can also work with the patient to find out why they might be experiencing so much anxiety and can then provide the appropriate treatment.

Many people who have gone through online therapy have been successfully treated for their depression and anxiety. Online therapy does not limit the kind of treatment or help that a person can receive. It is the same as regular therapy, except that it is online and does not require a person to leave the comfort of their home if they do not want to. Online therapy is completely confidential and offers a more discreet way for people to seek the help that they need.

Jennifer Baxt, LMHC, LMFT, NCC, DCC offers online audio/video counseling as well as works with children, individuals, couples, geriatric patients, depression, bipolar, anxiety and substance abuse. Please contact Complete Counseling Solutions via email jennifer@completecounselingsolutions.com or visit our website http://www.completecounselingsolutions.com for any further information.

Why Coffee Can Cause You to Have Panic Attacks

What you may not be aware of is that coffee is one of the worst drinks that you could possibly drink if you are a nervous person or you are under stress all the time and more specifically it can cause you to have anxiety or panic attacks.

Yes I know that you are probably already fully aware that coffee has caffeine in it unless you drink the decaffeinated kind. But did you know that event the decaffeinated coffee still has 2-4 mg of caffeine?

Heres the breakdown of caffeine content for common drinks and foods

• 8 oz cup of drip coffee has about 105-190 mg of caffeine in it
• 8 oz of brewed tea has 20-90 mg of caffeine
• 8 oz soft drinks has about 20-40 mg
• 8 oz of cocoa has up to 30 mg
• 1 oz milk chocolate has 1mg to 15mg of caffeine
• 1 oz dark chocolate has 5 mg to 35 mg of caffeine

Compare the above to over the counter pills that keep you awake

- Typical generic pills that keep you wake has about 100 mg of caffeine

- Vivarin has about 200mg of caffeine

So why should you know this?

Well since caffeine is a stimulant drug it affects the neurotransmitters in your brain just like cocaine and heroin to manipulate dopamine production in your body.

The brain keeps sending signals using the neurotransmitters and tells the pituitary gland to release hormones that cause additional amounts adrenaline to be released into your bloodstream.

If your under a lot of stress or a nervous person by nature this can cause you to have a panic attack. If you already have been known to have panic and anxiety attacks this can easily, within minutes, cause you to have a panic attack.

Depending on how much caffeine you ingest will pretty much determine the intensity and duration if an attack were to occur.

Also for those of you who drink caffeine after a morning of drinking alcohol for your hangover, this can be a double whammy and really make you susceptible to lapse into a panic attack.

I've drank caffeine the morning after drinking several times in the past before I realized what devastating affects that it can have on me as a person with panic disorder. My heart will skyrocket and start skipping beats (PVC's) to make me feel as if I'm having a heart attack as well as have intense feelings of immanent death as adrenaline surges through my body.

Its an extremely frightening experience and if you've never had a panic attack before, caffeine can easily cause this to happen to you at some point in your life.

I've suffered from severe panic attack disorder for nearly 30 years. Stop living in fear each day like I was. Get my free tips that can avoid and stop your panic attacks forever. Go to my blog How To Stop Your Panic Attacks

Barbara Marciniak
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