Causes of Anxiety

Medically reviewed by:

Dr Tom Micklewright - Medical Officer

Updated: Aug 18, 2021

Next review: Aug 18, 2022

As everyone experiences anxiety in a different way, the causes are likely to vary from person to person. Often, anxiety can be brought on by a range of causes building up on top of one another.

Let’s take a look at some of the factors that can trigger an anxiety disorder.

This can be traumatic things that happened in the past, or a set of circumstances you’re facing right now. These events can make you feel very stressed and thinking about them can trigger a panic attack.

Potential triggers include:

Bullying, either at work or at school
Physical, psychological or sexual abuse
Loneliness or isolation
Bereavement
A breakup or divorce
Being the victim of a crime
Long-term health issues, such as arthritis or cancer
Substance abuse

A significant amount of your time is spent at work. If you’re not happy in your job, it can have a big impact on your mental health and become a key cause of worry and anxiety.

Your anxiety could be triggered by work-related issues such as:

Long hours
The pressure to perform and hit deadlines
Tiredness as a result of this pressure
A poor performance review
The threat of redundancy, or being fired
Long-term unemployment
Poor relationship with work colleagues

Sometimes anxiety can occur when we don’t feel our lives are where we expect or want them to be. In a social media age, it’s easy to compare yourself unfavourably with your friends, but it’s important to remember that someone’s online profile rarely tells the whole story!

Anxiety can occur at different points throughout your life, for various reasons. These include:

Pressure to meet life goals by a certain deadline
Compare your life with the one your friends present on social media
Retirement and the loss of a regular routine

This is something that many people will keep a secret from their loved ones, no matter how anxious they feel. Of course, this only adds to the problem later on.

Common money worries include:

Debt
Large bills
The prospect of losing your home

Sometimes, anxiety can be brought on by how your brain works, or because of genetic factors. If you can’t pinpoint an obvious cause for your anxiety among your personal problems, you might want to consider the following possible causes:

Overactivity in the areas of your brain that control emotional responses and behaviours
Imbalance of mood-boosting chemicals such as serotonin and adrenaline
Your family history - have any close relatives suffered from anxiety disorders?
Hormonal changes in the body, e.g. puberty, an overactive thyroid, menopause or pregnancy
Some medications can trigger anxiety or make existing anxiety worse. This is possible even with medication designed to treat anxiety or depression.

In addition, the fear of having an anxiety attack can cause your anxiety to get worse. As you might expect, this can create something of a vicious cycle. That’s why it’s so important to see a doctor and get treatment for your anxiety symptoms.

Dr Tom Micklewright - Medical Officer

What causes anxiety?

Life events

Issues at work

Social factors

Money problems

Biological factors

Anxiety about anxiety