Anxiety Is at Crisis Levels! What’s Going On?

I thought it might be helpful to write a few blogs about the anxiety epidemic in the United States, factors that seem to be behind it, and what we might do to alleviate it.

I’ve given these statistics in earlier blogs, but I think you’ll agree these are shocking facts that place the problem in sharp relief:

• More that 30% of Americans are on Anti-depressant and Anti-anxiety drugs
• 80% of Americans report they experience either periodic or chronic stress
• Spending on psychotropic prescription drugs (mind-altering drugs such as Xanax and Valium) is approaching $1 trillion annually (Time Magazine)
• A CBS News report indicates that 30% of Americans are either alcoholics or have abused alcohol at some point in their lives
• The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that approximately 10% of our population uses illicit drugs regularly

What is going on here? Why is such a large percentage of our population so emotionally fragile and stressed out?

Turmoil in the workplace is both a symptom and a cause of the anxiety epidemic we face. The Harris and Gallop Organizations indicate that workforce engagement is at an all-time low. Less than 20% of workers say they are engaged in their jobs. Poor relationships with supervisors and unfair work environment were high on the list of reasons given for poor job satisfaction.

In a recent poll of five thousand people, self-employed people reported they were by far the happiest and most optimistic workers in society today, even though 45% of them made the same or less than their “work-for-someone-else” counterparts. Autonomy was the most highly value characteristic for the self-employed.

A key that unlocks part of the mystery regarding the stress and negativity that plagues our country can be summed up with the word “Connection”. Our need for positive emotional connection with our fellow man is a tribal, primordial urge, one that is today significantly disrupted and has been under stress for nearly four decades.

There is no single answer to this, but over the next few weeks I’ll be writing about this and related complicating obstacles and what might be done to correct them. The latest discoveries in several fields of science show us we can turn this all around with the skills and attitudes many of us now possess and simply don’t realize how powerfully we can enhance our use of them.

I would enjoy turning these blogs into discussion forums, so by adding your comments we can create a vibrant exploration of this topic.

Tom Searcy, BCC

Spirt of Eagles