Everyone experiences anxiety at some stage in their life. It may be a condition in itself or it may be caused by an underlying psychiatric or physical illness. Here are some of the reasons behind it:

• It may occur as part of a variety of psychiatric syndromes, including schizophrenia, depression, alcoholism or withdrawal from long-term treatment with medical drugs;
• Some people are more prone to anxiety, inheriting this tendency through their genes;
• Sometimes the cause is obvious - when the problem disappears, so does the anxiety;
• Some circumstances are so upsetting that the anxiety continues long after the event. These are usually life-threatening situations like car crashes, train crashes or fires. The people involved suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and can feel nervous and anxious for months or years after the event, even if they have been physically unharmed;
• Using drugs like amphetamines, LSD , ecstasy, cannabis can sometimes cause anxiety. Even caffeine intake from drinking tea or coffee can be enough to make some of us feel uncomfortably anxious;
• On the other hand, there may appear to be no obvious reason why the person feels anxious. It could be a mixture of their personality, the things that have happened to them, or life-changes such as pregnancy.

For advice and information about reducing your anxiety levels, read TheSite's getting help factsheet.

Updated: 11/09/2009