The Biology of Anxiety and Mood Disorders

Biological Factors in Anxiety and Mood Disorders
Anxiety and mood disorders are serious mental health and medical conditions that require professional treatment from healthcare providers to achieve a complete and lasting recovery. Given the significance of treatment in promoting full and long-term recovery, numerous advances have been made in the past three decades toward understanding and treating these conditions (Mennin, Heimberg, Fresco & Ritter, 2008). A critical component in the treatment of these conditions is understanding their underlying biological factors. Anxiety and mood disorders have a strong biological basis, which is critical in treatment approaches. An understanding of the biological basis of these conditions help in development of effective treatment approaches. This paper examines biological factors in anxiety and mood disorders and their role in preventing and treating these disorders.
Anxiety Disorders and Mood Disorders
Villaggi et al. (2015) state that anxiety disorders and mood disorders are among the most prevalent psychological or mental health disorders. In this regard, the lifelong prevalence of anxiety disorders is estimated at 16.6% and mood disorders, particularly major depressive disorder at 12.2%. Anxiety and mood disorders are not only frequent and debilitating, but usually tend to be concurrent. Despite being among the most prevalent mental health disorders, anxiety disorders and mood disorders have significant differences.
Anxiety disorders are defined as a group of clinically diagnosed mental health or psychological conditions characterized by overwhelming fear, worry or concern. These conditions in turn interfere with an individual’s quality of life and capability to function effectively in school, work, home or normal life. Even though occasional anxiety is part of normal life, one could be diagnosed with anxiety disorder if he/she frequently experience excessive, intense, and persistent fear, concern or worry regarding everyday situations. Anxiety disorders are usually characterized by recurring episodes of sudden feelings of intense fear, anxiety or terror. These feelings are usually difficult to control and can sometimes last for a long period of time. On the contrary, mood disorders are psychiatric or mental health conditions characterized by a never-ending disturbance in mood. Some of these ongoing mood disturbances include elevated mood, mood swings or depression. These conditions are characterized by severe changes in mood that in turn causes disruption to the individual’s life activities. The disruption of the individual’s life activities is attributable to the significant impact of mood disorders on everyday emotional state.
Distinguishing Moodiness/Anxiety from a Mood or Anxiety Disorder
As evident in the brief definition of anxiety and mood disorders, anxiety and changes in mood are part of an individual’s daily life experience. Therefore, it is important to distinguish between moodiness/anxiety and an actual mood or anxiety disorder for appropriate diagnosis and treatment of the condition. The key factor in distinguishing anxiety/moodiness from an actual disorder is the frequency of occurrence and impact on one’s daily living. An actual mood or anxiety is characterized by repeated and intense episodes of moodiness and anxiety respectively. These repeated and intense episodes sometime last for a long period of time and go beyond normal moodiness or anxiety. In addition, these episodes has significant impacts on one’s ability to function effectively in different aspects of life. Therefore, the repeated and intense episodes of moodiness and anxiety affect one’s daily living, which is an indicator of an actual anxiety disorder or mood disorder. The diagnosis of an actual mood or anxiety disorder considers these various factors, which in turn become the premise for developing treatment approaches for the individual patient.
Biological Factors Contributing to Anxiety and Mood Disorders
Over the past few decades, the treatment and management of anxiety and mood disorders has experienced significant changes. These changes are attributable to the dramatic shift in the foundations of psychiatry and mental health. Understanding the biological underpinnings of psychopathology has become more important in treatment of psychiatric and mental health conditions like anxiety disorders and mood disorders. Therefore, healthcare providers and psychiatrists are increasingly examining biological foundations of the various conditions to help create effective treatment and management approaches.
Anxiety is generally a biological mechanism designed to safeguard an individual from dangerous or life-threatening circumstances. Since anxiety is primarily a biological mechanism, anxiety disorders have a biological basis. Anxiety disorders are largely attributable to faulty circuits in the brain that cannot control emotions like fear and worry. The human body comprises complex systems that are responsible for electrical, psychological and chemical changes that cause and affect the occurrence of anxiety symptoms. One of the most important systems in the human body is the nervous system, which acts as the central command center. This system coordinates and directs actions of the other systems of the body including activities in the brain. The limbic system in the brain is responsible for instigating the chemical messenger chain that guides the rest of the body (Jacofsky et al., n.d.). As a result, the limbic system represents the emotional aspects of the human brain.
Neurochemical imbalances in the brain, particularly in the limbic system and genetic defects form the biological basis for anxiety disorders (Lebowitz, Pyun & Ahn, 2014). These imbalances and defects ae faulty circuits in the brain that affect ability to control emotions like fear and worry. Neurochemical imbalances and genetic defects contribute to anxiety disorders through disrupting two important neurotransmitters i.e. serotonin and dopamine. When these vital neurotransmitters are disrupted, feelings of anxiety and depression emerge. In essence, the disruption of these neurotransmitters affect the ability of the limbic system to initiate chemical messenger chain to control fear and other emotions in relation to a dangerous situation.
Javelot et al. (2014) state that mood disorders have a biological basis since biological data is an important source of information for understanding the development of these conditions. Individuals diagnosed with mood disorders have imbalances in critical neurotransmitters in the brain i.e. serotonin and norepinephrine. These neurotransmitters are responsible for regulating bodily functions such as sleep, mood, appetite, arousal and sex drive. When imbalances occur in these neurotransmitters, they are unable to regulate these critical bodily functions resulting in mood disorders. Since these neurotransmitters are essential chemicals in the brain, the imbalances affect brain structure and functioning. As a result, brain structure and functioning could play a role in the development of mood disorders.
Similarities and Differences Between these Biological Factors
As shown in existing evidence, anxiety disorders and mood disorders have a biological basis. The biological factors contributing to these different groups of disorders have some similarities and differences. One of the similarities between the biological factors contributing to anxiety and mood disorders is that they relate to brain structure and functioning. The structure and functioning of the complex systems in the brain determine its ability to regulate important bodily functions that in turn influence the development of the conditions. Secondly, anxiety and mood disorders are caused by imbalances in certain neurotransmitters, which are chemicals in the brain. The common neurotransmitter that could contribute to the development of anxiety and mood disorders is serotonin. Imbalances in serotonin and other neurotransmitters affect brain functioning and contributes to development of these disorders.
Despite these similarities, there are some differences in biological factors contributing to development of anxiety and mood disorders. One of these differences is the fact that anxiety disorders are also caused by imbalances in dopamine whereas mood disorders are also brought by imbalances in norepinephrine. Secondly, anxiety disorders are largely attributable to the functioning of the limbic system in the brain while mood disorders are mostly linked to overall brain structure and functioning. Third, anxiety disorders are linked to the brain’s ability to control emotions whereas mood disorders are brought by the brain’s ability to control essential bodily functions like sleep and mood.
Significance of Biological Explanation in Prevention and Treatment
It is quite clear that both anxiety disorders and mood disorders have a biological basis and are influenced by some biological factors. Consequently, some medications used to treat these disorders focus on boosting the activity and functioning of important neurotransmitters. However, the biological explanation is not sufficient in preventing and treating these disorders since there are factors that contribute to their development. The biological explanation is quite complex and may not solely result in development of effective treatment approaches.
In conclusion, anxiety and mood disorders are among the most prevalent mental health or psychiatric conditions. These conditions are caused by various factors, particularly biological factors associated with the structure and functioning of the brain. As evident in this assessment, the biological factors contributing to the development of these disorders are imbalances in neurotransmitters. While the biological explanation provides a premise for understanding the development of anxiety and mood disorders, it is not sufficient in prevention and treatment of these conditions because of other factors and their associated complexities.
References
Jacofsky, M.D., Santos, M.T., Khemlani-Patel, S. & Neziroglu, F. (n.d.). Biological Explanations of Anxiety: Part II. Retrieved October 24, 2019, from https://www.gracepointwellness.org/1-anxiety-disorders/article/38471-biological-explanations-of-anxiety-part-ii
Javelot et al. (2014). Telemonitoring with Respect to Mood Disorders and Information and Communication Technologies: Overview and Presentation of the PSYCHE Project. BioMed Research International, 2014, 1-12.
Lebowitz, M., Pyun, J.J. & Ahn, W. (2014). Biological Explanations of Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Effects on Beliefs About Prognosis and Responsibility. Psychiatric Services, 65(4), 498-503.
Mennin, D.S., Heimberg, R.G., Fresco, D.M. & Ritter, M.R. (2008). Is Generalized Anxiety Disorder an Anxiety or Mood Disorder? Considering Multiple Factors as We Ponder the Fate of GAD. Depression and Anxiety, 25(4), 289-299.
Villaggi et al. (2015). Self-Management Strategies in Recovery from Mood and Anxiety Disorders. Global Qualitative Nursing Research, 2, 1-13.