How Many People Suffer From Anxiety

Anxiety And How It Affects Society

These are just a few of the ways unresolved anxiety affects our society.

Those who have an anxiety condition:

• Often feel out of control of their health and life
• Experience higher levels of overall stress
• Often struggle with low self-esteem
• Feel nervous in many social situations
• Have difficulty managing pressure
• Feel disconnected or detached from reality and life
• Often feel they are just on the edge of losing control
• Often arent reliable
• Become inward focused and dwell on their health condition and personal problems
• May jump from relationship to relationship in search of perfection
• May jump from job to job because of higher levels of stress
• Live a restricted lifestyle
• Feel life is passing them by
• Question their faith and Gods presence in their lives
• Feel at a distance from God

In addition to anxiety disorder impairment, those who seek help may encounter real and perceived barriers to help:

• the individual or medical professional may not recognize the symptoms
• symptoms may interfere with the persons ability to seek help
• specialized help may not be available in their area
• long waiting lists limit access to professional help
• the individual has insufficient medical insurance coverage
• they may believe there is a stigma attached to mental illness and wish to avoid any association with it
• they may be avoiding the perceived appearance of weakness
• they may be in denial

With the right help and healing, those who have experienced an anxiety condition can:

Disease Burden Of Mental Health And Substance Use Disorders

Health impacts are often measured in terms of total numbers of deaths, but a focus on mortality means that the burden of mental health disorders can be underestimated.2 Measuring the health impact by mortality alone fails to capture the impact that mental health disorders have on an individuals wellbeing. The disease burden measured in Disability-Adjusted Life Years considers not only the mortality associated with a disorder, but also years lived with disability or health burden. The map shows DALYs as a share of total disease burden mental and substance use disorders account for around 5 percent of global disease burden in 2017, but this reaches up to 10 percent in several countries. These disorders have the highest contribution to overall health burden in Australia, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

In 2017, an estimated 264 million people in the world experienced depression. A breakdown of the number of people with depression by world region can be seen here and a country by country view on a world map is here.In all countries the median estimate for the prevalence of depression is higher for women than for men.

DALYs from depression

The chart found here shows the health burden of depression as measured in Disability Adjusted Life Years per 100,000. A time-series perspective on DALYs by age is here.

Types Of Anxiety Disorders: By The Numbers

Research has revealed the prevalence rates of the various types of anxiety disorders, including:

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Generalized anxiety disorder statistics show that this condition affects 2.7 percent of the population, with 3.4 percent of females and 1.9 percent of males being affected.
• Panic Disorder: Panic disorder statistics reveal that the prevalence of this condition is 2.7 percent, with 3.8 percent of females and 1.6 percent of males being affected.
• Social Anxiety Disorder: According to social anxiety disorder statistics, this condition impacts 7.1 percent of the population, 8 percent of women and 6.1 percent of men.
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder : OCD statistics show a prevalence rate of 1.2 percent for OCD. The condition affects 1.8 percent of women and only 0.5 percent of men.
• Phobias: Specific phobias are the most common anxiety disorders, impacting 9.1 percent of the population. According to phobia statistics, rates vary based on gender, with 12.2 percent of women and 5.8 percent of men being affected.
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder : PTSD facts and statistics show that this condition occurs in 3.6 percent of the population or 5.2 percent of women and 1.8 percent of men.

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Lifetime Prevalence Of Social Anxiety Disorder Among Adolescents

• Based on diagnostic interview data from National Comorbidity Survey Adolescent Supplement , Figure 3 shows lifetime prevalence of social anxiety disorder among U.S. adolescents aged 13-18.4
• An estimated 9.1% of adolescents had social anxiety disorder, and an estimated 1.3% had severe impairment. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition criteria were used to determine impairment.
• The prevalence of social anxiety disorder among adolescents was higher for females than for males .

Figure 3

Anxiety Statistics By Education Levels

• Americans with higher education are less likely to have an anxiety disorder. Anxiety affects 3.9 million adults who have less than a high school education, 3.3 million who have graduated high school, 2.8 million with some college, and 3 million who had a college education or more.
• One Canadian study found that for each additional level of education, people were 15% more likely to see a psychiatrist.
• Anxiety is the highest concern for counseling services in college. Of the college students receiving counseling services, 41.6% are seen for anxiety.

Also Check: How Anxiety Affects The Body

Is Anxiety On The Rise

Some researchers suggest that anxiety disorders are not necessarily increasing, but people are more open about their anxiety and actively seeking treatment. Years ago, mental health disorders and anxiety were taboo topics, but now anxiety has become a constant topic of discussion. Were rates of anxiety mostly underreported in the past?5 Even if this is the case, anxiety is certainly a topic that should be at the forefront of our conversations. With 6.8 million Americans currently struggling with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, 6 million Americans with Panic Disorder, 15 million Americans with Social Anxiety Disorder, and 19 million Americans with Specific Phobia Disorder, anxiety is not going away any time soon.1

If you suffer from anxiety or another mental health disorder, you are not alone. Anxiety is so common and often linked to co-occurring disorders. Whether you or someone you love is looking for a mental health program, or specifically foranxiety treatment in Boca, we can help. We also provide co-occurring disorder treatment in Boca.

Seek immediate help by calling. Our mental health facility can provide you with more information on how we may be able to improve your mental health and treat your anxiety.

The State Of Mental Health In America

In the above links you will find a Collection of Data across all 50 states and the District of Columbia answering the following questions:

• How many adults and youth have mental health issues?
• How many adults and youth have substance use issues?
• How many adults and youth have access to insurance?
• How many adults and youth have access to adequate insurance?
• How many adults and youth have access to mental health care?
• Which states have higher barriers to accessing mental health care?

Our Goal:

• To provide a snapshot of mental health status among youth and adults for policy and program planning, analysis, and evaluation
• To track changes in prevalence of mental health issues and access to mental health care
• To understand how changes in national data reflect the impact of legislation and policies and.
• To increase dialogue and improve outcomes for individuals and families with mental health needs

Why Gather this Information?

• Using national survey data allows us to measure a communitys mental health needs, access to care, and outcomes regardless of the differences between the states and their varied mental health policies.
• Rankings explore which states are more effective at addressing issues related to mental health and substance use.
• Analysis may reveal similarities and differences among states in order to begin assessing how federal and state mental health policies result in more or less access to care.

Read Also: How To Manage Anxiety At Work

Deaths From Mental Health And Substance Use Disorders

The direct death toll from mental health and substance use disorders is typically low. In this entry, the only direct death estimates result from eating disorders, which occur through malnutrition and related health complications. Direct deaths can also result from alcohol and substance use disorders these are covered in our entry on Substance Use.

However, mental health disorders are also attributed to significant number of indirect deaths through suicide and self-harm. Suicide deaths are strongly linked although not always attributed to mental health disorders. We discuss the evidence of this link between mental health and suicide in detail later in this entry.

In high-income countries, meta-analyses suggest that up to 90 percent of suicide deaths result from underlying mental and substance use disorders. However, in middle to lower-income countries there is evidence that this figure is notably lower. A study by Ferrari et al. attempted to determine the share disease burden from suicide which could be attributed to mental health or substance use disorders.1

As a result, direct attribution of suicide deaths to mental health disorders is difficult. Nonetheless, its estimated that a large share of suicide deaths link back to mental health. Studies suggest that for an individual with depression the risk of suicide is around 20 times higher than an individual without.

You Stress Out About Losing Control

Again, anxiety is all about fearing a loss of control, which is why many sufferers go out of their way to prepare. That can develop counterproductive behaviors, like obsessive over-preparing or guardedness,Dr. Seda Gragossian, clinical director at Talk Therapy Psychology, tells Bustle. This is commonly seen in people with social anxieties who will avoid putting themselves entirely in situations where they have no control of an outcome.

Also Check: How Do You Know If You Have An Anxiety Disorder

Anxiety Disorder Statistics By Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity

Statistics around sexual orientation and mental health are difficult to quantify, but the studies that have been conducted point to mental health disparities among some, but not all, sexual minority groups. Researchers emphasized the importance of including multiple measures of sexual orientation in population-based health studies.

One study found that mental health outcomes differed by sex, dimension of sexual orientation, and sexual minority group. Whereas a lesbian, gay, or bisexual identity was associated with higher odds of any mood or anxiety disorder for both men and women, women reporting only same-sex sexual partners in their lifetime had the lowest rates of most disorders.17 The same study revealed:17

• Higher odds of any lifetime mood or anxiety disorder were more consistent and pronounced among sexual minority men than among sexual minority women
• Bisexual behavior conferred the highest odds of any mood or anxiety disorder for both males and females.

An additional study showed that sexual minority groups when compared to heterosexual respondents were significantly more likely to describe their lives as stressful, with a weak sense of belonging in their community. Researchers concluded that factors placed them at significantly greater odds of the negative mental health outcomes.19

A review of multiple studies concluded that:

Depression By Education Level & Employment Status

The statistics presented in the entry above focus on aggregate estimates of prevalence across total populations. In the chart we present data on depression prevalence across a number of OECD countries, disaggregated by education level and employment status. This data is based on self-reported prevalence of depression as requested by surveys. There are multiple reasons why this data may differ from IHME statistics presented above: it is based only on adults aged 25-64 years old, and focuses on self-reported depression only. The lack of differentiation in these surveys between mental health disorders, such as depression, anxiety disorders, and bipolar disorder mean that self-reported depression data may include individuals with these other disorders.

Categories in the chart have been coloured based on education level, with further categorisation based on whether groups are employed, actively seeking employment, and the total of employed, active and unemployed. Across most countries we tend to see the lowest prevalence in depression amongst those with tertiary education and highest prevalence in those who did not reach upper secondary education.

It is also notable that the large differences in education level close or disappear when we look only at the sub-group of those employed. Overall, the prevalence of depression appears to be lower in individuals in employment relative to those actively seeking employment, or the total population which also includes the unemployed.

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Globally 1 In 13 Suffers From Anxiety

You are free to share this article under the Attribution 4.0 International license.

U. QUEENSLAND Depression and anxiety are found in every society in the worlda finding that debunks old theories that only people in the West get depressed.

These new findings come from the worlds most comprehensive study of anxiety and depression research to date, published by researchers at the University of Queensland.

In two separate studies of anxiety disorders and major depressive disorder study authors found that surveys of clinical anxiety and depression have been conducted across 91 countries, involving more than 480,000 people.

The findings, published in the journal Psychological Medicine, show that clinical anxiety and depression are serious health issues all around the world.

Anxiety disorders were more commonly reported in Western societies than in non-western societies, even those that are currently experiencing conflict.

Clinical anxiety affected around 10 percent of people in North America, Western Europe, and Australia/New Zealand compared to about 8 percent in the Middle East and 6 percent in Asia.

The opposite was true for depression, with people in Western countries least likely to be depressed.

Depression was found to be lowest in North America and highest in some parts of Asia and the Middle East.

However, she warns that it can be difficult to obtain good quality data from some low- and middle-income countries.

Panic Attacks And Panic Disorder

Panic disorder is characterized by repeated, unexpected panic attacks, as well as fear of experiencing another episode. Agoraphobia, the fear of being somewhere where escape or help would be difficult in the event of a panic attack, may also accompany a panic disorder. If you have agoraphobia, you are likely to avoid public places such as shopping malls, or confined spaces such as an airplane.

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Mental Health As A Risk Factor For Substance Abuse

Mental health is known to be an important risk factor for the development of substance use disorders . The increased risk of a substance use disorder varies by mental health disorder type:

• for alcohol dependency the risk is highest in individuals with intermittent explosive disorder, dysthymia, ODD, bipolar disorder and social phobia. This is discussed in our entry on Alcohol Consumption.
• for illicit drug dependency the risk is highest for individuals with intermittent explosive disorder, ADHD, and bipolar disorder. This is discussed in our entry on Substance Use.