Anxiety? Me? Never.
I was having a conversation with my wife the other day and made an off-hand comment that I felt as though all of my recent counseling referrals were for folks experiencing challenges related to anxiety.
It didn’t seem to matter what the age or gender of the caller was, anxiety appeared to be the challenge du jour. My wife immediately agreed and remarked that her referrals all seemed to be related to anxiety as well.
As I asked around with other counselors I know, they all agreed that anxiety was on the rise. It seems that, at least here in NJ, anxiety is becoming the new pandemic. So what is anxiety exactly? How common is it? Can it be treated?
The official, Merriam-Webster definition of anxiety is, “apprehensive uneasiness or nervousness usually over an impending or anticipated ill.”
Essentially, anxiety is when we worry about something, often something that can cause us harm or holds significant sway over our lives or our future. Anxiety is common and something we all experience perhaps before a test or job interview, etc.
It becomes a challenge when it interferes with our lives or our ability to function in a specific area of life. Some common signs and symptoms of anxiety include restlessness, feeling on edge, difficulty concentrating, muscle tension, irritability, and difficulty sleeping.
As my story above would indicate, anxiety appears to be an ever-increasing challenge. There are a multitude of reasons for this over the past several years but most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has certainly ramped up everyone’s anxiety levels.
Pre-COVID in America, roughly 40 million adults experience diagnosable anxiety symptoms each year. That is roughly 18% of the adult population. Sadly, only about 37% of those people reach out for professional help.
If you look more closely at those 40 million adults, about 7 million experience generalized anxiety, about 6 million experience panic attacks, and about 15 million experience social anxiety.
Of those who experience social anxiety, 14% of them wait 10 or more years before getting help. As we can clearly see, anxiety is a significant challenge for Americans and our current circumstances will cause those numbers to increase in the coming years.
If so many people are affected, how can anxiety be treated? The answer is it depends. For the majority of adults, seeking out natural supports such as friends, family, or your faith leader will be enough to process your feelings of anxiety.
However, if that doesn’t help, your next step can be to see a professional counselor. You can find counselors near you through your health insurance website or through a counselor database, such as the one Psychology Today operates.
They will help you work through whatever challenges you are facing in an empathic and non-judgmental way using a variety of therapeutic approaches that work really well with anxiety symptoms.
All licensed counselors are trained in how to help. The most important aspect of counseling to remember is that you need to feel comfortable with the person you are seeing.
If you don’t feel safe and comfortable talking with them, then the chances of progress are pretty slim.
I would love to hear from all of you! If you have questions about mental health or specific topics you’d like me to address, leave me a comment below!
Also, I would love to hear from you about how you have overcome the anxiety that you have faced in your own life and the role your faith played in that.
Originally published at https://www.graceanddepravity.com.
