My Age Of Anxiety

My Age Of Anxiety is your guide to understanding an aspect of mental illness that most of us don’t realize is so severe, showing it’s biological and environmental origins and ways to treat it.

Some people with clinical anxiety compare the constant battle to having diabetes. They must constantly deal with difficult afflictions on a daily basis. It takes vigilance to watch out for situations that could make them stressed and need to seek relief with drugs, which is draining.

There are many limitations associated with this illness as well. I have family members that have had a hard time being in public places in the past. Some prefer to just be home where they know they’re in control and safe.

One man had it so bad that he couldn’t go outside of a five-kilometer radius around his house. If he did, he’d vomit blood.

Even the most simple things in life are hard for these individuals. The author himself finds it impossible to give a speech or board an airplane without taking a mixture of alcohol and meds.

He also struggled with overattachment to loved ones, as many others with this ailment do. As a child, he had a hard time being without his parents. If they ever left he would think they were dead.

Some aspects of life are even embarrassing when you have mental illness this bad. On one trip the author missed all the sights because he was visiting all the sanitary facilities due to his anxieties.

So what causes this disorder, anyway? It’s rooted in our evolution, actually. And a little fear and worry isn’t actually such a bad thing. Remember the “survival of the fittest” theory? It states that the best-adapted species will survive and others won’t. Our ancient ancestors developed fears for things that wouldn’t help them live longer, like cliffs and snakes, for example. This helped them come out on top and thrive. We all still have some of these fears today, and they make sense. You’re afraid of spiders or snakes still because it helps you live longer. But the worries of those with clinical anxiety go much deeper and are far more irrational. The author, for example, has a fear of cheese. There is even some evidence of this trait being passed down in genes. Stossel, for example, sees a few of his anxieties in his daughter. Some of this may be from upbringing, though. Research on Rhesus monkeys reveals how important the connection between parent and child is. Young monkeys who were were separated showed more anxiety, social abnormality, and aggression later in life. Another study compared the effects of a mother’s traits on her children. It identified that…