The Prevalence of Anxiety

The tendency of anxiety-sufferers is that they believe that they are the only ones who suffer from such a horrible condition. This group of people has been alone and isolated for their entire lives, which may be several decades in some cases, so this group has good reason to believe that in fact there are only a few horrible freaks who suffer from such a perilous condition.

But, there is good news! While people may want to believe that they are the only ones with such difficulty in their lives, the fact is that millions of anxiety-sufferers exist. How many? Let the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) answer that question. NIMH is the federal agency that was created to help America manage its mental health. The organization is very reputable, and any statistics that it presents can be viewed as legitimate.

The first, and most startling statistic that is provided is that "Approximately 40 million American adults ages 18 and older, or about 18.1 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have an anxiety disorder" (The National Institutes..., 2009). This means that of total population of America, which is currently around 300,000,000, about 1 in 7 people have an anxiety disorder.

The NIMH breaks down anxiety disorders into five major categories: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Panic Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). Approximately "...6.8 million adult Americans suffer from GAD, 2.2 million..." adults suffer from OCD, "...6 million..." adults are affected by Panic Disorder, and another "...15 million" adults suffer from social anxiety (No statistics were provided for PTSD)(The National Institues..., 2009).

Most anxiety-sufferers like to hear that they are not alone, especially social anxiety sufferers. Well, this data shows that it is obviously the case that no anxiety sufferer is alone in reality! There are millions of people affected by varying anxiety disorders, and here is the research data coming from a reliable source to prove it!

The difficult that arises with anxiety and having a mental illness is that most people do not want to talk about their problems because they are too embarrassed and ashamed of their struggle. This data shows that millions of people suffer from different anxiety disorders; therefore, people should not be ashamed but instead should reach out and try to form social bonds with those who are affected by a similar issue.

It seems that a majority of people do not seek help for their problem, but instead try to medicate themselves in other ways. For example, many anxiety sufferers will turn to alcohol or drugs or some other addiction as a way of relieving the pain, even though this only increases the pain.

The point to hammer home in one's head is that one is not alone; people simply feel alone and as a result keep themselves alone, even though millions of other people with the same struggle exist. If more people reached out and tried to move forward in life, there would be more help and more community, which would serve to lessen the prevalence of anxiety in our modern society. So, for those who are reading this article and are hearing this information for the first time, start taking steps out into real life because people affected by the same issue are out there!

References

The National Institutes of Mental Health. (2009). The Numbers Count: Mental Disorders in America. NIMH. Retrieved May 12, 2009 from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-numbers-count-mental-disorders-in-america/index.shtml#Anxiety