To say “anxiety” is just low self esteem and confidence.

I am a boomer, and IME we tend to distinguish MH conditions by their severity. I had a great uncle who was medicated for his very fragile temperament from the 1940s onward. He was clever, kind, funny and artistic, and coped with work as a draughtsman in an engineering company, but his more robust, practical wife was his essential buffer when emotional demands became too much for him. I see threads of his condition inherited down the generations, although thankfully the genes have been diluted a lot.

Your comment started " boomers amd older generations " why are you speaking for a whole generation?

Why are you claiming to speak for everyone of that age group? I know quite a few boomers who do indeed blame others for their misfortune and frequently catastrophise. I work with them unfortunately and they’re exhausting to be around.

No it isn't that.

We don't catastrophise normal emotions
We don't label every event as traumatic
We don't expect adjustments for every slight inconvenience
We accept our failings without blaming others

I think a bigger issue is the boomers and older generation who have little to no understanding or respect for mental health conditions and frequently subjugate those with them in schools, hospitals and workplaces.

I agree with this.
One of my children recently joined a sixth form and immediately they wanted to know if she had anxiety or would feel anxious in a college environment.

It's great that they wanted to be supportive and my experience across 3 children is that colleges on the whole are much better at supporting individuals and not just people with a diagnosis, but this felt very pre-emptive,

I work with young adults who report anxiety about getting on a bus for the first time, or starting a new job, or taking a test.

That's not anxiety (in general) that's usual nervousness which is to be expected around myriad experiences in life. It's NORMAL to feel heightened doing these sorts of things - weren't we all nervous on the first day at school/work etc?

There are absolutely some people for whom anxiety is a crippling condition but in the deepening of understanding about mental health conditions I'm worried that young folk are misrepresenting normal nerves and relabeling it as anxiety.

I think you’re confusing normal human flaws which don’t disrupt every day life to an extent that it has a detrimental effect on the individuals ability to live a normal life, with actual conditions which do fit the criteria I’ve just set out about as a mental health issue.

Not all all. I don't see how every failing we have as human beings has to be diagnosed or have a label.

I'm clumsy and forgetful.

I don't need a diagnosis or label.

Its just being human.

That’s like saying it’s stupid you can’t go running because you’ve got shin splits, it’s not a broken leg.

Like anything there’s levels and ranges.

I see you’re back being incredibly ignorant

Because ADHD affecting driving is documented, and your personal unfamiliarity with something isn’t evidence against it. An attention disorder affecting an activity that requires sustained attention—yes, truly an astonishing connection. I can see why you needed to challenge it. “Why can’t you just be a terrible driver?” Because I’m explaining the difficulties I have and how I manage them, rather than submitting a character reference for you to stamp “just useless” across. You don’t have to understand my diagnosis, but being this condescending while knowing this little is certainly a choice.

And how exactly do you propose I find out whether I’d drive better without it? Leave it in the glove compartment? Arrange a test drive with my neurologically different stunt double? I’m American, my parents had me assessed, and my diagnosis goes back decades. It predates TikTok and whatever point you think you’re making about people mentioning ADHD. I’ve had rather more time to understand how it affects me than you’ve spent reading my post. But please, explain why your first uninformed impression should take precedence. Apparently the actual assessment was unnecessary; we should’ve just waited for someone on Mumsnet to weigh in.

In my case, anxious feelings were low iron and my body literally saying 'crap! I'm struggling for oxygen, someone do something'

I feel physical reasons for anxiety and other emotions that produce a strong, uncomfortable sensation on the body ought to be ruled out in all cases.

Why can't you just be a terrible driver, why do you have to attach it to you ADHD?

Without it would you be a good driver?

I have ADHD and I'm a terrible driver. I can manage quiet, straightforward roads but I know my limitations and avoid situations I don't feel capable of handling safely. That's not a lack of confidence, it's called self-awareness and lol at declaring country roads inherently more dangerous, as though every road and every driver is exactly the same. Different people struggle with different aspects of driving. The fact that you apparently can't distinguish between knowing your limitations and having low self-esteem is rather concerning. I'd argue that someone who recognizes what they can safely handle is considerably more sensible than someone who thinks a bit of encouragement and positive thinking magically makes everyone a competent driver.

YABU. I know doctors who specialise in anxiety disorders and it’s more than just lack of self esteem

Their low self esteem and lack of confidence causes them to experience anxiety and avoid things then?

Yup. Spot on. But it goes the other way too. I remember a client who mistakenly put some used batteries into a vape recycling container (or something along those lines) and her brain convinced her that the resulting fire would be catastrophic; once we got that thought invalidated – which took about five minutes – she was able to use her logic, not her emotions.

The best way I can describe it is: you know when you see a TV hypnotist? And they hypnotise their subject to, say, think there's a snake on their chair. You can tell them as many times as you like that it is safe, there's no snake, they can sit there - but still their brain simply won't let them do it, they leap up in horror. 🐍

For that short time, their brain has been conditioned to 'save' them from the danger.

That's what it feels like to me, a mental block. The brain can have an amazing power over the body, even when that power is misguided...

My point is about everyday avoidance: There are people who avoid doing things because they say they 'have anxiety' about it, when in reality, it's just the natural human response of feeling nervous about something unfamiliar.

Those people are not using the word wrong though. You're just taking it wrong.

They do have anxiety about it.

"Anxiety is a normal human emotion characterized by feelings of unease, worry, or dread about an anticipated event or future threat".

That's what they have, that's what they say they have, what they say they have is accurate. It doesn't matter if the person feels anxious because they have poor self esteem or what the reason is, the person is still accurately describing what they have.

They're not claiming to have an anxiety disorder or an illness, they're just saying they have anxiety about doing certain things.

“Bowing the fuck out” has been the most sensible part of this whole conversation.

Really ignorant comment. Anxiety can be complex and can stem from so many different root causes. For me, what I call anxiety, seems to be a flare up of my nervous system.. often after a virus. My body seems to get stuck in fight or flight, I jump at every noise, jump at the sight of anyone, heart races, stomach swoops, racing thoughts, can't catch my breath. It comes out of nowhere and can last for days. Absolutely nothing to do with self esteem or confidence.

Oh dear.

There is such a thing as situational anxiety. The driving example is one such example where someone has complete situational anxiety about all driving, or it can be just about driving on certain roads such as dual carriage ways or motor ways where you just can’t pull over. That may or may not be part of a wider mental health issue. In most cases it is nothing to do with lack of confidence or low self esteem, however anxiety can then cause lack of confidence and low self esteem.

Ask any woman who has suddenly found that their life unfolds during perimenopause and they suddenly find that despite ordinarily being highly confident and in a high powered role, their life can unfold almost overnight with crippling anxiety and some of it can be situational rather than GAD.

I suspect what you are refereeing to is more worry based which can often be common in someone with lack of confidence and low self esteem which then leads to anxiety.

I’ll explain it with an imaginary example.

A consultant surgeon can’t do a routine operation that they have successfully performed thousands of times before. They and their colleagues have total confidence that they know how to do the operation because they have successfully done it so many times before. However, today’s patient has many similarities to a patient who died unexpectedly on the table, albeit on a different and more complicated op, and this memory has triggered anxiety, so the surgeon’s palms are sweating and trembling and their heart racing so they are unable to operate. This surgeon is a person who has always had a tendency towards anxiety - they failed a few exams at medical school due to awful nerves,

But surely being unable to do something (in this case due to anxiety) must reflect on your level of self confidence? Especially f it's unpredictable / random thing that trigger it. It's a chicken and egg, kind of.