Anxiety is the new depression, with more than half of all American college students reporting anxiety.¹ Recent research² shows anxiety — characterized by constant and overwhelming worry and fear — is now 800 percent more prevalent than all forms of cancer.

A 2016 report³ by the Center for Collegiate Mental Health at Penn State confirmed the trend, finding anxiety and depression are the most common concerns among college students who seek counseling.⁴ Data from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) suggests the prevalence of anxiety disorders in the U.S. may be as high as 40 million, or about 18 percent of the population over the age of 18, making it the most common mental illness in the nation.^5,6

Fortunately, there are many treatment options available, and some of the most effective treatments are also among the safest and least expensive, and don’t involve drugs.

Anxiety — A Medical Condition Driven by Sociological Conditions?

Commenting on the featured video, Huffington Post writes:⁷

“A person with high functioning anxiety can look calm on the surface, but underneath that practiced veneer, their thoughts are churning. That’s the message behind a new video from ‘The Mighty,’ in which a young woman describes the experience of living with the condition, which is characterized by persistent negative thoughts, restlessness and even physical symptoms like muscle tension …”

But what is at the heart of all this anxiety? What’s causing all these persistent negative thoughts? Why the chronic restlessness? The New York Times addressed the rising prevalence of anxiety in a recent article, noting:⁸

“While to epidemiologists the disorder is a medical condition, anxiety is starting to seem like a sociological condition, too: a shared cultural experience that feeds on alarmist CNN graphics and metastasizes through social media …

‘If you’re a human being living in 2017 and you’re not anxious,’ [Sarah Fader, who has generalized anxiety disorder] said on the telephone, ‘there’s something wrong with you’ … [I]t seems we have entered a new Age of Anxiety. Monitoring our heart rates. Swiping ceaselessly at our iPhones …

Consider the fidget spinner: endlessly whirring between the fingertips of ‘Generation Alpha,’ annoying teachers, baffling parents … According to data from the National Institute of Mental Health, some 38 percent of girls ages 13 through 17, and 26 percent of boys, have an anxiety disorder …  Meanwhile, the number of web searches involving the term has nearly doubled over the last five years …”

United States of Anxiety

Kai Wright, host of the political podcast “The United States of Anxiety,” attributes the current trend to the fact that we’ve been at war for over a decade and a half, have faced two recessions in that same time frame, and have had to adjust to a swiftly changing digital landscape, which in turn has changed how we work and interact.⁹

“Everything we consider to be normal has changed. And nobody seems to trust the people in charge to tell them where they fit into the future,” he says.10 Andrea Petersen, author of “On Edge: A Journey Through Anxiety,” interviewed students at University of Michigan for her book, some of whom revealed the internal pressure cooker was turned on far earlier than you might expect.