It is not easy to identify who suffers from anxiety and who does not. The fact of the matter is that lots of people who suffer from anxiety do it in silence and would not readily admit to the fact.

People who suffer from anxiety normally keep it secret since it seems to be shameful to admit to suffering from something like anxiety. The problem is that most people who do not suffer from it themselves find it hard to believe that anxiety is a 'real' disorder. After all – if you are scared of things for no reason you are either slightly mad or seeking attention!

Unfortunately this makes it difficult for people who suffer from Anxiety disorders to come forward and admit to it, something which will make it easier for them to get help and assistance in the long run.

This also means that a surprising number and type of people suffer from anxiety disorders; people that you might never suspect! This could be a family member or a famous celebrity. Some famous people in history apparently suffered from anxiety disorders – people like Sir Isaac Newton, Abraham Lincoln and even Sigmund Freud. All of these people were examined by doctors but nothing physically could be found wrong with them and most of their ailments remained undiagnosed until today, a time were we are more open and knowledgeable to the disease.

But even today we find it difficult to understand anxiety disorders – is it genetic in nature? Is it 'all in the mind', can it be treated by medication or should alternative methods be used?

What seems to be clear is that anxiety disorders do have a genetic basis - in other words, a predisposition for general anxiety could be inherited from parents, but it the environment plays a significant role – in other words, the circumstances surrounding upbringing, as well as the circumstances in which people would find themselves. For example, people with a high exposure to the public eye as well as pressure to perform, such as celebrities, or political figures, could easily develop anxiety symptoms if they were genetically predisposed to it.

Of course in the modern age that we live in there is a pill for everything, and anxiety disorders can be treated with medication – with the negative aspect being that of the dangers of addiction and the medicine losing its effectiveness – increased tolerance to the medication, in other words.

With that in mind, natural solutions to treating anxiety should always be investigated. These include relaxation methods, some natural plant based medication and other methods such as cognitive-behavioral techniques.

Luckily our modern methods of treatment are normally much more effective than those suffered by people in days gone by. Alfred Lord Tennyson underwent Hydropathical treatment which was based on the principle of using water to treat ailments and included among other things, continual wet sheets and hot and cold baths.

Today the person who suffers from anxiety has a much wider range of options to choose from and should investigate the type of treatment that will suit his personality and his needs.