Is There a Biological or Genetic Link to Anxiety Symptoms?

Video Transcript

I get a lot of the same anxiety symptoms as my dad. Is there a biological or genetic link to the types of anxiety symptoms a person can get?

Yes, you can get similar anxiety symptoms as your parents. Since anxiety symptoms are symptoms of stress, both biology and genetics can play a role in how stress manifests in a person, including the types of symptoms you might get.

However, it’s not as simple as “you’ll get the exact same anxiety symptoms.” But there’s definitely a connection.

Anxiety symptoms, such as dizziness, irritability, headaches, stomach and digestive distress, or trembling, come from how your body and brain respond to stressors. The key players are your hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which controls cortisol (the stress hormone), and your nervous system. Studies show that variations in genes tied to these systems can influence how intensely or in what way your body reacts to stress.

For example, research on the CRHR1 gene (which helps regulate the HPA axis) suggests certain variants can make people more reactive to anxiety or panic under stress. Another gene, FKBP5, has been linked to how well you recover from stress and whether you’re at risk for things like Post-Traumatic Stress.

If your father has specific stress symptoms, such as headaches, dizziness, or stomach upset, there’s a chance you could inherit a predisposition to similar reactions.

Twin studies support this link. For instance, identical twins, who share nearly all their DNA, often show more similar stress responses than fraternal twins. A 2018 study in Psychoneuroendocrinology found heritability estimates for cortisol responses to stress can range from 30-60%, meaning genetics has an influence. But that’s not the whole story.

It’s not just DNA. Environment—how you were raised, what stressors you’ve faced, and how you learned to react to those stressors—interacts with those genes.

For example, if your dad’s stress symptoms came from a high-pressure job, and you grew up watching that, you might mimic his reactions through learned behavior, not just genetics.

Epigenetics adds another layer! The stress your father experienced could’ve altered how his genes expressed, and some of those changes might pass down to you, tweaking your own stress response.

So, could you get the same symptoms as your parents? Possibly, if you share genetic traits that steer your stress response in a similar direction. But it’s not guaranteed. Your unique mix of genes, life experiences, and even coping habits will shape how stress affects you.

If you’ve noticed patterns, like getting dizzy or migraine headaches just like your father, that could indicate a genetic link.

A lot of my anxiety symptoms were like my dad’s symptoms.

However, the degree of anxiety and hyperstimulation can make a difference. Higher degrees of anxiety and hyperstimulation will produce higher degrees of symptoms and more of them.

Remember, this video is about anxiety symptoms, which are symptoms of stress. We are not talking about the anxious behavior that causes stress. Anxious behavior is learned, not biologically or genetically inherited.