Breaking the Cycle of Anxiety
in the Family

Audio Version

If anxiety is affecting you or a family member, you can’t just ignore it. Living with a family member who has anxiety can also impact you. It can be difficult to watch someone you care about struggle with symptoms of anxiety. Anxiety can also be hereditary, leading many to say that it “runs in their family”. Whether this is due to nature or nurture, counseling can be effective in treating anxiety.

The Anxiety Cycle: Genetic Predisposition and Environment

If you were raised in a family where you saw members experiencing anxiety, you may be more susceptible to anxiety. While there is a genetic component to anxiety, this doesn’t have to be a negative thing.

If anxiety “runs in the family”, you could be genetically predisposed to anxiety. That predisposition can be expressed, suppressed or modified, depending on the environment. Being raised by someone with anxiety may make you more prone to developing anxiety. According to Assistant Professor Amy Przeworski, PhD, of the Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, “Individuals inherit a predisposition to being an anxious person, [and] about 30 to 40 percent of the variability is related to genetic factors.”

Anxiety can also be learned. If you grow up seeing those close to you react with anxiety to certain triggers, you may be more likely to do so yourself. The opposite may also be true. Those that experience anxiety and receive treatment may be more likely to spot symptoms and seek out early intervention. This can lead to greater understanding and greater access to healthier coping skills.

How Anxiety Can Be Environmental

Even when parents are not genetically predisposed, anxiety may still affect the family. Considering how stressful modern life and parenting is, anxiety may also enter your home through daily life stressors.

For instance, if one parent comes home stressed, they may take out their frustration on the other parent, who may also release their anxiety on the children. If there is a genetic predisposition, risk of developing anxiety will increase in this type of environment. While it can potentially disturb everyone, anxiety may fall more on children. .

Children are often more susceptible because they don’t have the same communication or coping skills adults do. Acting out, they may be thought of as “the problem.” It is possible that they are just absorbing, like a sponge, the familial anxiety.