Society / life in general contribute to anxiety/panic?

Doesn't everything from society being materialistic, economy-based, how $ is more important than anything else, shallow values/people running around, and everyday hardships, expenses, dramas directly contribute to anxiety/panic?
WHY is everyone rushing to think that there's something wrong with them neurologically, when constant, obvious, daily stressors over time can influence our brain chemistry and mood/attitude?
I think it's more to do with our environment than just heredity/genetics/neurology alone.

Yes, anti-depressants, benzodiazepines, etc, can alleviate our symptoms, but that does NOT adress the direct/indirect causes.

And I'm VERY sick of everyone blaming their own genes/heads for their problems, when much of it is what we're exposed to on a daily basis, which we completely overlook.

Anyone else agree?
And if this is the case, wouldn't we dramatically cure our anxieties/panic problems if we choose to view/think/take/approach life in different ways than we have been programmed to ?

aww thanks you're so friendly.

I do have to say though, today I felt a bit depressed for no reason and I do agree with you. I think we're all just wired differently, and some people don't have the best wiring.

 

hi there. well let me apply to puffy there. hi. im a new member all, and puffy you are right. lots of people have anxiety due to alot of things, can be all neurological, all depends how head strong they are and how they manage stress. Some of them just cant take it, so they rely on drugs to cope like antidepressants and anti anxiety agents. Take me for instance. I have been a medical transcriptionist for ten years. I was abused by my sons father, in counseling, drugged up by antidepressants, on the highest dosage and potent anxiety medicine that no doctor in the world would prescribe to anyone, and im still kickin, but so relaxed you wouldnt believe. but it does not interfere with my daily life. it actually helps me live it. i dont like waking up every morning and taking these pills, i tried to stop, but it just kept coming back.

then work got stressful. the people you work with can make you go nuts too. working with women is extremely difficult. i dont like it, but i will never give up a state job. i tried even talking to a psychologist, but no go. i had to get a psychiatrist and she prescribed an antidepressant and anti anxiety agent. let me tell you when i get home, im zonked out, and then im up now writing to you guys because i just slept six hours. really sad, its sad how i have to live. thats how stress is. Just think of people who have it worse than us who are in mental institututions and commit suicide. i would be more worried about them. at least i have a handle on it. i dont know what else to say. everyone is different. i cant make fun of noone elses life. i cant diagnose anyone. you are not nuts for being on any medicine.

Hi
To answer your question : yes! it is very clear that the society we live in (and our childhood experiences, and people around us, etc.) have an effect on our mental health. The fact is we live in a money oriented world and there is a lot of $$ to make with medication and the pharmaceutical companies wish we all think that we have kind of a neurological disease" insteat of a mental one.

I personnally think that antidepressants are only a band aid. I think that I have a perfectly normal brain... I am only too sensitive and I had some difficult experiences in life. So the antidepressants I take are just there to help me cope. The problem I think is that most people will agree with that but many think that antidepressants correct something in their brain while I think that for sensitive people who develop anxiety medication can actually worsen the original sensitivity we have. There are some studies who show that on the long term ADs will make you MORE depressed.

So that is the real problem : many of us anxiety sufferers certainly HAVE a biological predisposition but there are no tools for the moment to correct this predispostion and the chemical ways we use to help us cope (it can be legal or illgegal drugs, alcohol...) can all be dangerous in the long term. I actually feel with my ADs like an alcohol or drug addict that is why I work really hard on myself to be able to stop one day soon.

Puffy,
Welcome to our forum. This is Kitt. You have a very strong view point and I would agree with some of it but I believe like Lynn and some others that Mental Health Illness is finally getting the attention it has needed for years.
We used to just send people that could not deal with the real world to the "Nut House" no offense intended here, but that is the term from my childhood. We also sent people with no money to the Poor Farm or their children to the orphanage. These people were certainly affected by society but could they help it by themselves...................?
These people were not after material things, they were after the basic things one needs to survive, food, clothing, medicine for the ill, trying to keep their families together. Well that is my opinion for what it is worth
Welcome to our forum and please stay with us. Keep positng.