There are two types of anxiety, acute and chronic. Acute anxiety occurs on a daily basis. Examples are the reactions we get to stressors such as being late for a meeting, a child waking up with a cold/illness, minor car accidents, financial worries, etc. Chronic anxiety is more of a background of anxiety that we carry with us. Much of this type of anxiety is programmed into us during our years in our family of origin, a level of anxiety that was/is usual for the family. We carry it around like a bad habit … it is more or less automatic. We seem to pass it along to other family members including our children. If the family anxiety tends to settle in a child, the child will develop a symptom (either physical, mental/emotional, or social). The onset of the symptom will add to the parents anxiety. They will begin to worry and the more they worry, the more the child becomes anxious.