I think mine started as a small child growing up with an alcoholic Father. We never knew when the next beating, or verbal abuse would happen over something/nothing/anything. Walking on egg shells, and trying to "please" became a survival technique. It may have fried my nerves at a young age.

I'm only sharing my own personal reason behind my anxiety in an effort to help others pin point what may started theirs. As an adult looking back I realize that my anxiety started in elementary school. I used to have a problem wetting my pants/bed so I was teased in school. I didnt stop have this problem until 2nd grade. But since I went to the same school from kindergarten til 7th grade, those critical years of development, have already been affected since the same people who were in my kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade were the ones I continued to attend school with for several years.

From a young age, I had to worry about what other were thinking. Therefore, kinda like being on pins and needles. I had a few friends and wasnt the dork of the class but not the popular girl either. I started as a real young child being nervous around other people.

That was the beginning point of my anxiety. Social anxiety that I continue to deal with on a daily basis. I am home 98% of my time with my little Chihuahua dog and thats it. I may go to my parents house on a weekend, for 5 hours or so once a month or less. I dont really have a social life. I wish I did. It would really really help me conquer my social anxiety problem.

it originally started in my childhood. I was abused physically, sexually, verbally, and emotionally by my stepdad. I was always on eggshells, trying not to make him mad because if I did make him mad he'd beat me. I was always trying not to be noticed by him because I just wanted him to leave me alone. It made me very anxious. I finally learned to cope with that and then Christmas '08 I got horribly sick and that set my anxiety of all over again. Also trying to please my family and avoid conflict with them made it worse, too. I would try to make them happy at my own expense and all it did was make me anxious and sick.

I've had 2 full blown eras of panic attacks since I was 21, following 2 crucial decisions. One was moving away from my homeland to be with a guy, who later on became my husband and now my former husband. And the other was after a breakup of a 4 year relationship with a man I was so spiritually connected to but the relationship was not very healthy. Although looking back, I remember when i was 18 i had these episodes of almost blacking out, and feeling spacey. At the time my mother had taken me to the dr. and they couldn't put a finger on the fact it must have been generalized anxiety disorder, they actually asked me if i was smoking pot. I wasn't. I realized through analyzing my life that i have a tendency to repress my emotions. I believe that is the reason for the anxiety. I feel when i am open with my thoughts and emotions the anxiety goes away and i feel more alive.