Anxious Heritage

Having anxiety is an ongoing battle that can last a lifetime and take on different forms at different times. But since it’s confined to you (it’s not contagious like measles) it makes you focus primarily on yourself and your own feelings. But what if you knew that this could affect your kids? Being prepared for this reality can be disheartening, but it’s a reality you should prepare for.

Is the fear of passing on your anxiety disorder baseless mumbo-jumbo? The short answer is no. And let me assure you that I am not the eleven o’clock news and I am not here to scare you pointlessly. It just so happens to be a possible reality for many of us. This is because anxiety disorders (of all types with the exception of PTSD), can be inherited.

According to several past studies if you have at least one close relative with an anxiety disorder your chances of developing it also increase dramatically. For many years researchers looking into this issue were torn between blaming people’s nature or the nurturing they received to explain why they were prone to anxiety and panic. And although there is evidence to suggest that both contribute to the development of anxiety disorder, it seems that genetics does play a role.

According to Michael Khan of Harvard Medical School, scientist have discovered at least one gene that is related to the development of anxiety disorder and it’s called 5-HTT . It’s thought that this gene acts as a "serotonin transporter" and plays a key role in our malfunction. Certain variations of it can cause problems with the brain’s serotonin levels and therefore problems with our anxiety levels. Serotonin is adrenaline’s partner in crime when it comes to anxiety. If adrenaline rules the body with respect to anxiety disorder then serotonin rules the mind. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter (communication cell) that regulates things like anger, sadness, etc.

So what does this all mean? It means that there is a genetic basis for anxiety. And although having this variant gene does not cause anxiety alone Michael Khan points out that it "sets the stage for anxiety to develop if a sufficiently stressful situation arises". In other words, you may not have anxiety right away but it can be triggered. All this of course can cause problems for both parents and potential parents.

I have read that some people with anxiety disorder will not have children because of their condition. They fear passing their condition on to the next generation. I have a two year old myself and to be honest I have thought about this very question. Will my kid become anxious like me?

The short answer is that I have no idea, but I do know it’s likely. So if and when it does happen I will do what any good anxious parent should do. Make sure he gets treatment and learns how to manage his condition before it becomes some scary unknown for him. To "arm" him with information and advice so that he knows how to cope. So given this grim scenario should you have kids if you know that you may pass on this anxiety gene?

This is such a tantalizing question, rather controversial no doubt. But I would say that if you want to have kids then you should. But at the same time you should also be mentally and emotionally prepared for the difficult times ahead.

I didn’t develop anxiety until I was 19 years old. So I didn’t have trouble in kinder garden, but let’s just say that college was not that fun for me. When I became an anxious adult I can tell you that my mom developed "anxiety guilt". She blames herself for passing this gene to two of her four children. She feels somehow responsible for her DNA being tainted with this variation of which she had no knowledge of in 1978.

Ultimately the decision to have or not have children while anxious is a personal choice to be made between couples. Personally I am glad I have my son and can’t imagine anything making me regret or take his birth back, not even anxiety. I did however want to bring this issue to the attention of all those that weren’t privy to this information. We all need to make informed decisions about our lives and this is just one more.