Anxiety: More than just sweating the small stuff
In my last blog post, I talked about the ADD and ADHD and how it varies in the United States and in other European countries. Diagnoses and treatments of this disorder are generally different, so I wondered if the same rang true for a mental health problem, such as anxiety. Being someone who deals with anxiety, I wondered if someone in Munich, Marseille, or Manchester suffered the same things I go through.
Since anxiety is a natural human response, some may have some symptoms but are never diagnosed. For those who have panic attacks and other effects of anxiety, they are diagnosed and treated accordingly.
In America, anxiety has become an “easy target” on which to joke about. There are countless articles determining if you suffer from it, comics that joke about it (although they are quite accurate depictions), and comedians that joke about having anxiety. Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., with 18% of adults diagnosed, which may be why we are more open to talking about it than other disorders. But what are Americans anxious about? It is suggested that maybe the idea of the “Normalcy Bias” or being motivated to achieve high successes are some of the things plaguing our country. That seems fairly materialistic and superficial when it comes to other countries.
Not to discount American issues, because each country has their own difficulties and reasons to be concerned or worried. Americans seem to be more nervous than most other countries, though, due to uncertainty and lack of control.
The U.K. had about 8.2 million cases of anxiety in 2013. 67% of the English population worries about money, which is comparable to America in reasons for developing anxiety. However, the U.K. recently introduced a new online course called “Be Mindful”, which has reduced anxiety by 54% in the country.
In many European countries, increasing anxiety is due to the migrant crisis. A recent poll in Germany explained that Germans fear the refugees entering their country because there are more disadvantages than advantages. The debate on pros and cons to allowing refugees to enter countries is ongoing. These refugees bring cultural diversity, workers to fill vacant jobs and skill sets, and economic growth. The argument, however, is the security of the German citizens and falsifying information about where they are coming from.
France has a prevalence of 14.2% of anxiety disorders among its population. Anxiety percentages increased after the Paris attacks occurred. Increases in prescriptions and doctor visits shot up after the attacks in Toulouse in 2012. The French are more likely to suffer from Generalized Anxiety Disorder than Americans and twice as often as Germans. France had not experienced an attack of this size in a long time, so they may have more of a reason for an uprise in anxiety cases.
These kinds of events, although not to the scale of the recent Paris attacks, happen often in America, but there doesn’t seem to be many details citing attacks and shootings for increased anxiety here in the States. Maybe we are too accustomed to it and with each violent act, it is just another day in our country. A week of publicity doesn’t necessarily cut it when it comes to coming up with solutions for this. I don’t want to live in fear, but there has to be a happy medium with how we can react to these events.
