Toxic stress and anxiety
Here’s a question from J, who is in his mid-20s and experiences frequent anxiety, often without a clear reason. He lives alone and doesn’t communicate with his parents: "Did I get my anxiety from toxic stress as a child?"
Toxic stress is a chronic stress you might have experienced as a child in a toxic home environment, causing your nervous system to remain on high alert. Leaving the toxic situation doesn’t mean the stress goes away; it continues to overwhelm you in adulthood. Symptoms include feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, and high emotional reactivity in normal situations. This means you might react to everyday issues like work problems or traffic with heightened stress and have less resilience to stress overall.
Because of this heightened state, you’re more vulnerable to anxiety, including generalized anxiety where you worry excessively about everyday things like work, health, finances, and relationships. This anxiety can be intense and persistent, even without obvious triggers, making it hard to stop worrying.
Is toxic stress treatable? Yes. Toxic stress is a condition with symptoms that decrease your quality of life, cause constant inflammation, and lead to emotional and physical issues. If you didn’t have the emotional support you needed as a child, you might not have learned how to self-regulate your stress. As a child, you needed an adult to help manage stress reactions.
Therapy and loving relationships can help create supportive experiences for your nervous system, reducing toxic stress. If your symptoms include high anxiety, high emotional reactivity, and an inability to feel positive emotions, focusing on these areas can help you heal. Becoming aware of the connection between your symptoms and the toxic stress you carry is the first step. If you didn’t get support as a child, consider how you can start supporting yourself now.
