Anxiety disorders etiology

The etiology of social anxiety remains unclear however, evidence suggests that developmental and genetic factors may predispose some individuals to social anxiety disorder. Adults with social anxiety disorder are more likely to report a history of childhood shyness and separation anxiety, limited social interaction during adolescence, and having had parents who placed great emphasis on the importance of the opinion of others. 

The family study approach, particularly when employed with systematic community-based samples, is one of the most powerful strategies to minimize heterogeneity, since etiologic factors for the development of a particular disorder can be assumed to be relatively homotypic within famihes. There is a dearth of studies that have employed within-family designs to examine either phenotypic expression or some of the putative biologic factors underlying the major anxiety disorders. For example,both Perna et al. (1996,1995) and Coryell... 

The exact etiologies of PTSD and OCD are not known. It is hkely that abnormalities in several areas of hrain fnnctioning interact to canse these chronic anxiety disorders. Genetics may play arole in expression of PTSD and OCD, but environmental factors hkely are also involved. A nenrodevelopmental model of OCD has been proposed. ... 

HT has been implicated in the etiology of numerous disease states, including depression, anxiety, social phobia, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorders,... 

Anxiety and insomnia are prevalent symptoms with multiple etiologies. Effective treatments are available, but they vary by diagnosis. In most instances, the best course of action is to treat the underlying disorder rather than reflexively to institute treatment with a nonspecific anxiolytic. 

In these disorders, the anxiety symptoms are secondary to another etiology. 

Since the etiology and treatment of these anxiety syndromes vary significantly, each is discussed separately below, with greater detail provided for the disorders that are felt to be more strongly biologically based. 

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