What Causes Anxiety

Anxiety may be caused by a mental condition, a physical condition, the effects of drugs, or a combination of these. The doctor’s initial task is to see if your anxiety is a symptom of another medicalcondition.

Common causes of anxiety include these mental conditions:

• Panic disorder: In addition to anxiety, common symptoms ofpanic disordersare palpitations (feeling yourheartbeat),dizziness, and shortness of breath. These same symptoms also can be caused by coffee (caffeine),amphetamines(“speed” is the street slang for amphetamines when they are not prescribed by a doctor), anoveractive thyroid, abnormal heart rhythms, and other heart abnormalities (such asmitral valve prolapse).
• Generalized anxiety disorder
• Phobic disorders
• Stress disorders

These common external factors can cause anxiety:

• Stress at work
• Stress from school
• Stress in a personal relationship such asmarriage
• Financial stress
• Stress…