I think it does run in families. I take ativan for my anxiety. It works well. I am also taking other meds for my mental illness like lexapro for depression. I hope you feel better soon.

I find it hard to say it runs in families. In my family there are only 3 of us with anxiety issues and all three of us have them because of childhood sexual abuse. My feeling is that anyone can develop an anxiety disorder, they just need the right circumstance to trigger it. I also believe, as my therapist does too because she has seen it so often, that an anxiety disorder is caused by a trauma - like my families history of childhood sexual abuse. Something somewhere in our past made us fear for our lives and when the fight or flight reaction kicked in, we were unable to run or fight. Since we were unable to run or fight the fight or flight reaction gut stuck in the 'on' position - if that makes sense.

I know not many people believe this theory but thought I would throw it out there in case you do have a traumatic event in your past. If you do, you can heal from it and the anxiety and panic will go away.

Take care

yes it does run in families that was the first question my councler asked me he said that it could be genetic but mine is worse because i cant control it ive been told i have panic disorder get the meds they will help some learn all you can about whats going on and it will help you understand what is happening hope u feel better

Anxiety is absolutely genetic. Having said that, you could have no one in your family who suffers from anxiety and you could still have it. In my family I have different mental health issues such as bipolar, schizophrenia, and depression but no one with anxiety except for myself. On the other hand, if you had a traumatic event you could develop anxiety and have no family history of mental health issues. It all depends on the person. For me, I have always had anxiety even as a toddler however it did not become uncontrollable and extremely noticeable until my father passed away. It just depends on the person.
I completely understand your worries about taking medication to get it under control. I did not want to take medication but like you said I just wanted to get it under control. Speak with your doctor about your concerns with taking medication. Sometimes you can take the medication for a few months to sort of reset your state of mind and then slowly wean yourself off it and you could find that you feel better. I told my dr I didn't want to depend on medication for the rest of my life and she suggested we try to medication for a while and then we will see how I am doing within a year or so. With that said, I have been taking lexapro for about 4 months now and on a day to day basis I feel so much better however I feel if I were to try to stop the medication any time soon I would not do well. It is all about staying in tune to your body. My only suggestion would be to try not take quick fix medications like Xanax or Kolonpin as those can create a dependency and are more difficult to wean yourself off of.
If you do decide to start taking medication, it is a long process to get back to feeling "normal". Some people start feeling better within the first few weeks, others it can take months. I started to feel more normal after about 3 months of taking my medication, so do not get discourage if the medication is not working as fast as you want.
Try looking into other methods of reducing your anxiety. Over the past 6 months I have found so many different things that help and don't help. Message me if you would like, I'd be more than happy to share my experiences with you.

Best of luck to you! I hope you start feeling better! Stay strong :)

I definetly think it is genetic only with all other mental illnesses. both my parents have it, esp. my other, my sister and her children do. my son got all my unfortunate traits so he is anxious too. he has had actual panic attacks. I take medication for mine, I couldn't function without them. I take klonopin, max, and oother meds for depression. please don't be afraid to ask about the meds and try some, you will feel better.