Research question: What is the role of inheritance in the development of anxiety and how can anxiety be managed?
Anxiety is an automatic response and defensive behavior that accompany circumspection or threatening aspects of the surrounding. Joshua and Rene found out that individuals who suffer from anxiety disorders get crippled by devastating bodily and emotional symptoms. Animal models of anxiety have helped various researchers to understand neural mechanisms.
With the help of anxiolytic drugs, it has been identified that fear-potentiated disconcert and fear-conditioned glacial depend on learned associations between painful and mild stimuli (Gordon & Hen, 2004). Neurobiological and pharmacological exploration discloses that neurotransmitters and neuron systems are responsible for expressing anxiety. Injection of any drugs that affect the functioning of the neurons affects the progression and transmission of anxiety.
Anxiety disorders are transferred through genetics. Individuals whose blood relatives suffer from such disorders are 4-6 times more probable to develop the syndromes than persons without the relatives. Anxiety disorders have a reasonable genetic predilection is sturdily influenced by ecological interactions so genetics cannot wholly be blamed for the development of anxiety disorders. Genetic factors account for about 20% to 35% of cases of anxiety disorders (Gordon & Hen, 2004). The loci underlying the genetic factors using gene mapping have produced weak and inconclusive findings. Neuronal activity works together with ubiquitination alleyways to control the structure and operational of synapses responsible for transmission of anxiety. These neurons are controlled by genes but can also be influenced by the surrounding environmental factors. However, genetic factors also play a chief role in determining an individual’s interaction with the environment. Hence, 20% of anxiety disorders influenced by psychiatric factors can be arbitrated by neurobiological mechanisms.
Stress, anxiety and fear are closely related conditions both controlled by genes found in specific chromosomes (Blanchard et al., 2008). All this conditions lead to increasing in levels of benzodiazepines that activate the HPA to react. Stress and fear are characterized by specific stimuli while anxiety is linked to environmental situations. The genes responsible for the development of excessive fear, anxiety, and stress are acquired genetically. An individual inherits such genes from their immediate parents and passes it to their offspring during gene mutation.
Currently, detectives are targeting gene-encoding constituents of the GABAergic and monoaminergic in a bid to establish effective treatment for anxiety (Gordon & Hen, 2004). Although a genetic association has been found between anxiety trait and the serotonin transporter, such an association is not evident in some anxiety related disorders, therefore, complicating the treatment of anxiety disorders. Animal models have extensively been used to study stimulus-linked defensive mechanisms in animals and the findings transferred to human beings.
These findings indicate that an individual develops anxiety disorders by inheriting. This, therefore, suggests that an individual has to live with anxiety related disorders in case they descend from a family where such disorders are common. With little success to cure such disorders, it, therefore, implies that descendants from such families will have to experience devastating conditions in life. Environmental factors that stimulate the development of anxiety disorders should be identified for persons to evade them when possible (Hyman et al., 2004).
It is predominantly devastating that the study uses findings from research conducted on animals such as mice and transfers the outcomes to human beings. Does it, therefore, imply that all mechanisms in animals are analogous to those in human beings? Additionally, the article fails to draw solid conclusions on the relationship between anxiety, genetic and the environmental factors. High technology should be utilized in gene mapping. This will enable acquisition accurate results and formulation of solid conclusions. Moreover, animal testing is unfair. Animals too have a right to life. Termination of their lives when scientists want to conduct research aimed at helping human beings is a malevolent act.
References
Blanchard, R. J., In Griebel, G., In Nutt, D., & In Blanchard, D. C. (2008). Handbook of Anxiety and Fear. San Diego: Elsevier Science Imprint.
Gordon, J. A., & Hen, R. (2004). GENETIC APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF ANXIETY. Annual Review of Neuroscience. doi:10.1146/annurev.neuro.27.070203.144212
Hyman, S. E., Jessell, T. M., Shatz, C. J., & Stevens, C. F. (2004). Annual review of neuroscience: Volume 27, 2004. Palo Alto, Calif: Annual Reviews.
