Are You Worrying Yourself Sick?

Ten years ago. Lori*, a speech pathologist in Virginia, was grocery-shopping when she suddenly couldn't breathe or swallow. "My heart was racing and my chest felt tight -- I thought I was having a heart attack," says the 42-year-old mother of four. The symptoms lasted several minutes before finally letting up. Lori took a deep breath and brushed off the incident as a onetime thing; she had to pick up the kids from day care and didn't have time for a trip to the doctor's office.

But over the next month, Lori experienced several more attacks. After realizing the problem wasn't going to go away, she saw a doctor. He diagnosed her with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) with panic attacks. GAD is a condition of debilitating worry that affects nearly 7 million Americans. "I'd always fretted over my family's well-being," says Lori. "But it never occurred to me that doing so could affect my own."

Lori's experience is especially common among women: Nearly one in three will suffer from an anxiety disorder in her lifetime, making it the most prevalent mental health problem in the United States. In addition to GAD, anxiety disorders can take me form of panic disorder (panic attacks that recur for more than a month), social anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and phobias. And while it's no surprise that persistent fretting cripples us emotionally, clouding our thoughts and draining us of energy and joy, it also takes a physical toll, as the body reacts to perceived dangers by releasing a flood of stress hormones. Your heart rate and blood pressure spike, while other functions, such as digestion, slow down. Over the long haul, exposure to these bodily chemicals can set the stage for insomnia, irritable bowel syndrome, and heart and lung disease.

While experts aren't exactly sure what causes certain people to experience anxiety, they say genes may be partly to blame: Research reveals some brains may be predisposed to overreact to potential threats. But even if you're a natural-born fretter, you can break free from the worry cycle and prevent it from ruling your life. By gauging your level of anxiety and then learning ways to calm your mind, you can add years -- not to mention tranquility -- to your life.