So it turns out that approximately 49% of the general population currently suffer or have suffered from anxiety, depression or substance abuse. In other words, as a human race, we are collectively becoming more anxious every decade. How fun!
Kids and teens today are actually more high strung than the average psychiatric patient in the 1950s. What a sad fact.
Psychology Today posted an article about this increase of anxiety and how it’s becoming a big problem. People move more today, they change jobs more frequently, they don’t participate in communities other than online platforms and they are more likely to live alone. All of this according the article is cause to increased anxiety and depression.
What does all of that anxiety lead to? Heart problems, hypertension, ulcers, diabetes, gastrointestinal disorders, asthma, back pain, arthritis, dermatological issues and fast aging.
So here comes the whine… About a lot of things.
Why are we doing this?
Why are we putting so much pressure on ourselves? Are you a better person for having more affluence? Will the newest Apple device make everyone like you more?
Does getting more likes on your Facebook page have anything to do with you as a person?
Do you really need to watch bad news every day? Does it decrease your stress to know that there is always disaster looming in the near future?
Are you really not going to go to a dinner with friends and participate in fun because you think they all care about how many wrinkles you have?
In my opinion, there is great anxiety about financial security – sure. It’s not the same as it was in the 50s. Back then, in many cases you got a job, you held onto that job for most of your adult life and then you received a pension for retirement. Today, you best be saving your own money for retirement and it’s a brick load of anxiety when you realize you got a late start or that you haven’t even started at all.
But even more so, and this is obvious with children and teens, the pressure to be the best at something, smarter than everyone else, look good and have an abundance of cool clothes and gadgets is obscene. The really silly thing is, that’s not what people really care about.
We have better health care, more awareness on health issues, safer methods of travel, and all kinds of opportunity and yet with all of that greatness comes more anxiety.
The pressure is there. For some it’s greater than others. But, there is always some type of constantly DOING to impress and less BEING. How do we stop the rapid increase of the anxiety and stop living a fear-based life?
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