What is behind Anxiety & Panic
Not happiness — stability, and the whole positive dimension of how life feels. The finding that changes how to read this pathway: feeling good is not simply the absence of feeling bad. When researchers statistically removed depression and anxiety from the analysis, the health benefits of positive wellbeing were still there — they are independent dimensions, not two ends of one line. That is why mood runs outward to sleep, inflammation, glucose, wound healing, infection resistance and survival itself, and not only inward from them. Evidence A — Human trial evidence.
The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis and its hormone cortisol — the body's central stress-and-recovery command. Evidence A — Human trial evidence.
GABA — the brain's principal inhibitory neurotransmitter, the source of calm and restful sleep. Evidence A — Human trial evidence.
Serotonin — the neurotransmitter of mood and satiety, and the precursor the body converts to melatonin for sleep. Evidence A — Human trial evidence.
The cystine–glutamate exchange that supplies antioxidant building blocks while tuning excitatory neurotransmission. Evidence A — Human trial evidence.
The master inflammatory switch — indispensable to defend against threat, corrosive when it never stands down. Evidence B — Preclinical.
Endocannabinoid signaling — the tone-setting system that buffers stress, mood and homeostasis. Evidence B — Preclinical.
Evidence on these pathways
GABA → Mood (Positive Affect). “In this review, we summarize clinical and preclinical evidence supporting a central and causal role of GABAergic deficits in the etiology of depressive disorders.” — The GABAergic deficit hypothesis of major depressive disorder. Molecular Psychiatry, 2011, vol 16, issue 4, pp 383-406. doi:10.1038/mp.2010.120
HPA Axis / Cortisol → Cognition. “Whereas treatments used in previous studies generally affect more than one memory phase and therefore cannot detect possible differential effects of glucocorticoids on the distinct phases of acquisition, consolidation and retrieval, here we show that treatment of healthy humans with cortisone at acute-stress levels specifically impaired retrieval of declarative long-term memory for a word list.” — Acute cortisone administration impairs retrieval of long-term declarative memory in humans. Nature Neuroscience, 2000, vol 3, pp 313-314. doi:10.1038/73873
HPA Axis / Cortisol → Digestive Function. “Reports have consistently established that central administration of CRF acts in the brain to inhibit gastric emptying while stimulating colonic motor function through modulation of the vagal and sacral parasympathetic outflow in rodents.” — Corticotropin-Releasing Factor and the Brain-Gut Motor Response to Stress. Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology, 1999, vol 13, pp 18A-25A. doi:10.1155/1999/375916
HPA Axis / Cortisol → Prolactin. “Stress is also an important physiologic cause of hyperprolactinemia, and its clinical significance is still being explored.” — Stress-Induced Hyperprolactinemia: Pathophysiology and Clinical Approach. Obstetrics and Gynecology International, 2018, volume 2018, article ID 9253083. doi:10.1155/2018/9253083
Formulas that act on these pathways
Acts on 7 of these pathways: Mood (Positive Affect), HPA Axis / Cortisol, GABA, Serotonin, Cystine–Glutamate Antiporter, NF-κB, Endocannabinoid Signaling.
Acts on 6 of these pathways: Mood (Positive Affect), HPA Axis / Cortisol, GABA, Serotonin, Cystine–Glutamate Antiporter, NF-κB.
Acts on 5 of these pathways: HPA Axis / Cortisol, GABA, Serotonin, Cystine–Glutamate Antiporter, NF-κB.
Acts on 5 of these pathways: HPA Axis / Cortisol, GABA, Serotonin, Cystine–Glutamate Antiporter, NF-κB.
Acts on 5 of these pathways: Mood (Positive Affect), HPA Axis / Cortisol, GABA, Serotonin, Cystine–Glutamate Antiporter.
Acts on 4 of these pathways: HPA Axis / Cortisol, Serotonin, Cystine–Glutamate Antiporter, NF-κB.
What this page does not claim
This page names the pathways involved and the published evidence on each. It does not claim that any formula treats, cures or prevents Anxiety & Panic. A pathway opens here only on graded, published evidence, under a standard fixed before the evidence was gathered, and every figure above carries its grade.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.