ANXIETY DISORDERS: CAUSES AND MINIMISATION AND PREVENTION
Almost everyone I have been in contact with brings up this point: ‘If only I had known what was wrong from the beginning. If only I knew from the beginning how to deal with it. The rest— the secondary conditions—would never have happened’. To minimise the disorders and prevent the secondary conditions an accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment is needed from the outset. A lack of diagnosis and/or inappropriate treatment leaves the way open for the development of the disorders and the secondary conditions.
Causes
Except in the case of post traumatic stress disorder, the causes of other anxiety disorders are still unknown. The disorders usually begin during or after a major life stress, or a period of continual stress. Much of the research has centred on panic disorder, and various theories have been suggested.
Physiological research suspects a chemical imbalance may be involved, although researchers are unsure whether any chemical imbalance is the cause, or a result of, the panic attack. Behaviour theories suggest that anxiety disorders are learned behaviours and recovery means unlearning the previous limiting behaviour. Psychoanalytic theory postulates that anxiety stems from subconscious unresolved conflicts which began during childhood. It is possible that the three schools of thought are each partly correct, and viewed together they form a whole picture of cause and effect (APA 1990).
Another theory currently being investigated is the role dissociation plays in anxiety disorders. Putman (1989) suggests that ‘dissociative phenomena exist on a continuum’ and range from ‘a normal process’ through to the most severe, dissociative identity disorder, which is the experience of separate multiple selves.
Dissociation can also be described as altered or discrete states of consciousness, or trance states. Dissociated states include: depersonalisation, the experience of being detached or out of the body; derealisation where ourselves and/or our surroundings do not seem real, as if we are looking through a white or grey mist; a sensation that our body has expanded or conversely has shrunk; feelings of floating, or of falling into a void; stationary objects appearing to move; and intolerance to light and/or sound.
From what I have found over the years, the ability to dissociate is very common in people who experience spontaneous panic attacks. It is interesting to note that once people who dissociate have an understanding of the phenomena, they report the experience of dissociation as being the trigger for the panic attack. Current research suggests the ‘sleep’ panic attack occurs ‘during the transition from stage two to stage three sleep’ (Uhde 1994). In other words, during an alteration of consciousness. I will discuss dissociation in more detail in chapter five.
Whatever the ultimate cause, people can still learn how to control the disorder naturally, without the use of medications. Learning how to control it means learning how to manage it without fear and panic. Unresolved childhood issues can also play a major role for people who experience anxiety disorders. Such issues need to be addressed and resolved.
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