Anxiety is a serious problem in modern society. It seems that humans are hard-wired to be fairly anxious creatures, but in the past our lives have been laid out clearly in front of us. We had stable jobs (farming), a stable support group (family and the other people in our tribe or village), and a set life path.
Nowadays people have a lot more opportunities; nothing is set in stone. This is obviously fantastic, but it is also clearly a cause of serious anxiety. This is the first time in history that people can work for themselves, by themselves, anywhere in the world. But it is also the first time that people are doing this, and many are finding that having such erratic work and social lives causes a lot of anxiety.
We've done a lot of research into the causes of anxiety.
They are many and varied.
There is usually no one reason why somebody is feeling truly anxious. Worried yes, but anxiety as it is clinically defined typically has several overlapping causes.
However, there are a few things which seem to increase the chances that you'll experience anxiety at some point in your life.
One big risk factor appears to be smoking.
Smoking, Mental Health, & Anxiety
A study published in the journal Addiction in 2007 found that there was a clear correlation between smoking and lifetime incidence of mental illness, including anxiety-related mental disorders.
Your first thought might be that people with mental disorders are more likely to smoke; that it isn't the smoking doing the damage.
But the clinical research would indicate otherwise.
An earlier study - published in 2003 - found that there was a unidirectional relationship between prior smoking (at any time in life) and the incidence of panic attacks or the onset of anxiety disorders later in life. This study established that smoking increased the risk of subsequent panic attacks, but having panic attacks did not mean you were more likely to smoke!
Here is what the researchers said: "At baseline, panic attacks and panic disorder were strongly associated with occasional and regular smoking and nicotine dependence (odds ratio [OR] range, 3.0-28.0). In the prospective analyses, we found increased risk for new onset of panic attacks with prior regular smoking (OR, 2.9; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.0-8.4) and nicotine dependence (OR, 3.6; 95% CI, 1.2-10.5). Prior nicotine dependence increased also the risk for onset of panic disorder (OR, 3.3; 95% CI, 1.0-10.5), whereas preexisting panic was not associated with subsequent smoking or nicotine dependence."
So if you're feeling anxious, it might be time to consider cutting out the cigarettes.
It is ironic that many people use smoking as a crutch or quick cure for stress. It might work in the short-term, but in the long-term you might be making the problem much worse!
You can find out more at https://www.naturalnootropic.com/what-causes-anxiety/.
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