Watch this short video featuring Living with Anxiety (LwA) study Co-Investigator, Professor of Psychiatry, and Co-Director, Health and Policy, The University of Sydney Brain and Mind Centre, Professor Ian Hickie AO, Sydney, reflecting on the genetics of anxiety and the role of research in investigating various anxiety disorders and patient response to treatment.
“If you know someone in your family – grandmother, mother, brother, sister – has had an anxiety disorder, you are probably at increased risk.
“Just like blue eyes and diabetes, and other things we inherit, these things run in families.
So understanding familial risk, which is really genetic risk, is crucial,” said Prof Hickie.
Prof Hickie explains the interplay between inherited traits and life experiences make anxiety disorders complex.
“If certain things have happened during childhood, very traumatic experiences, abusive or neglected parenting, that constitutes risk.
“Very traumatic things can happen throughout a person’s life, and that will increase the risk that they’ll develop an anxiety disorder,” Prof Hickie said.
Understanding the interplay between genetics, environmental and social factors is crucial to helping Australians seek appropriate interventions and support.
Research is key to unlocking the mysteries of anxiety disorders. The LwA study aims to find the genes that predispose Australians to experiencing these disorders.
“The principal aim of the LwA study is to better determine what are the real reasons, the underlying reasons you can’t know – genetic and otherwise – that tell us who will respond best from day one, to the treatments available,” said Prof Hickie.
By identifying the underlying factors that cause anxiety disorders, QIMR Berghofer and the Brain and Mind Centre Sydney hope to improve treatment strategies, enabling individuals to receive the most effective therapy from the outset of their treatment journey.
Although anxiety disorders are common, their underlying causes, and optimal treatments represent areas of ongoing research. By combining genetic insights with personal experiences, scientists are hoping to revolutionise the way in which anxiety is treated, by making interventions more targeted, and effective.
If you have been diagnosed with, or treated for an anxiety disorder, please consider volunteering for the Living with Anxiety (LwA) study to help researchers identify the genes influencing a person’s risk of developing anxiety, and how well treatments work.
To volunteer, head to: livingwithanxiety.org.au or email lwa@qimrberghofer.edu.au.
