to wonder why so many people have anxiety nowadays ?

[littlepaddypaws]

it seems a lot of posters suffer from it and i wonder why that is, having mn problems myself i can relate to how difficult it is and life can be limited for those with anxiety it in the worse scenario can keep you housebound.
it's good the mh is dicussed more openly but i'm curious, is modern life stress more people out ? don't recall so much on here a year or so ago.

People have suffered from anxiety ever since human life started. Anxiety is a normal, physiological mechanism that keeps us alive.

The problem is it's not pleasant and so our instinct is to avoid it. Life is such now that we can more easily do so, and therefore we are less and less exposed to mild and moderate anxious events which mean that we become less and less able to face and cope with more anxious stimuli.

Having looked into family history a bit I think it's always been there, it just went by another name.

I know exactly why I have anxiety (diagnosed). It was because I was subjected to a sustained campaign of bullying which drove me to the brink of suicide.

I was always a bit of a worrier and a perfectionist- traits which were easy for the person to exploit. HR dd nothing to help. Any self esteem or confidence I had was destroyed. It’s been several years and I still suffer every day. Antidepressants help. Therapy would probably also help but There’s no one in my area just now.

it can be hereditary and there is so much more awareness now its being noticed more.

There's definitely less stigma attached to formal diagnoses of anxiety these days, which I think in turn leads to a lot more self-diagnosis. For people with bona fide mental illnesses living in what is not just a toxic world but a world where all that toxicity is visible, projected and easily internalised it's hardly surprising that it all seems much more apparent. However, there does seem to be an awful lot of "anxiety" on MN from people who are plainly nothing more than ill-equipped to deal with everyday life.

*Fear for families and friends because of austerity
Fear for humanity and all wildlife because of climate change
Fear for the planet because of idiot politicians spending more on war than health and education
For those from war torn countries - all of the above plus losing their homes

Its really all rather depressing once you read information about the important issues facing us.*

But I can read and know about and be aware of all these things and I don't have anxiety about any of them. Whereas my SIL doesn't even get to that stage - she's so anxious about tiny, daily things (going to work and feeling bullied, dropping off her son at school and thinking people are judging her, going to the gym once and stopping because she's convinced everyone there is laughing at or judging her.)

I think real, diagnosable, anxiety is internally generated, it's a neurological condition, a chemical imbalance, as much as depression etc are. If you suffer from this condition, it goes looking for something (rational or not) to focus on - it might be a big thing, or a little thing. But it's the condition of anxiety that drives it, not the external "reason" for the anxiety.

I think we are so much more aware of it now and it is diagnosed rather than dismissing it as "nerves" (women) or being told to "man up" (men).

I think it's two fold.

a) we are more open about mental health conditions now and understand them (this is a good thing).

b) Some people are confusing feeling anxious (which is a normal human emotion) with 'having anxiety' and giving themself a label.

However if b is a consequence of a and the increased awareness helps the people in group A then it's a good thing in my opinion.

You say that like there is a gulf between a formal diagnosis and someone who is unable to cope with life. Surely not being able to cope with life is right up there as a marker for anxiety?

I know exactly why I have anxiety (diagnosed). It was because I was subjected to a sustained campaign of bullying which drove me to the brink of suicide.

DH and I have both changed jobs - different jobs different times -to get away from a toxic workplace/colleague - we were lucky to be able to do it and it took time as had to find other work first and some compromises - but it does make me wonder how widespread an issue it is in modern workplaces.

Life is hard. Especially if you had a lot of bad luck.

I was bullied at school, I was abused at home. I had no safe space. I failed my GCSE's. Managed to scrape some A levels together eventually but then my college best friend I was so close to ditched me when he went off to uni. My ex abused me sexually and ran up debt in secret then walked out and left it all to me. Both my boys have health issues.

Now I find it hard to leave the house and speak to anyone.

It's not taken seriously enough. I don't think it ever will be.

@hollyhead
I agree with your point B, I find some threads on MN actually quite insulting to people who have diagnosed anxiety and/or MH diagnosis. We all at some point feel anxious, worried, upset but please don’t claim you have anxiety when there are people suffering crippling anxiety that impacts their whole life.
I’m anxious/have anxiety seems a go to a lot of the time for rude/poor behaviour usually after being criticised.
Really makes me 😡

stray that is truly awful to put it mildly.

I wish I knew.
DS1 has anxiety, as well as ADHD and a painful, othering, genetic condition. He has also been impacted by my breast cancer, diagnosed when he was 6. He's now 12. For him, a lot of the anxiety (which is disabling for him and impacts hugely on our family) is probably due to his life experiences.
My DSis also had anxiety. We don't know why, but it definitely contributed to her decision to end her life in May.
So I imagine it's like most things - nature and nurture. There is better understanding, better diagnosis, better treatment.

I believe it is much easier to talk about anxiety in an anonymous forum than in real life.

... hence why you see so many comments about anxiety in Mumsnet

Thank goodness that these issues are more openly discussed, but I do think a lot of people jump on the bandwagon and think it is trendy to have anxiety.

A few weeks ago my neice posted on Facebook that she was in a really bad place with her mental health and anxiety (she is 30 by the way, has a partner and 3 year old). Knowing that her parents were on holiday I phoned to ask what the matter was and could I do anything to help. She said that she was so anxious because she had her driving test coming up.

Now, call me old fashioned but I don't think being worried about something like a driving test is a mental health issue. It's just life. Everyone get nervous about stuff. (I did try to reassure her and try to offer coping mechanisms).

Dh has it, I knew he got worked up about things more than I do but I never knew what he was dealing with

I think our lives are too stressful, and living in densely populated areas exacerbates it.

We don’t live how we evolved to live.

and for you too wee hearing things like this gets things into prespective. when some people need to use a bit of common sense and whine over the silliest of things on mn. some people have serious problems to deal with.

aunty at least i'm not the only one who things some people jump on the trendy bandwagon for attention.

I have heard a psychologist say that today's world (western) is safer and, importantly, more predictable than ever. He was talking about children specifically saying that they're getting used to knowing quite a lot about their days in advance and therefore don't "practice" or are not used to dealing with the unexpected do, when somerhing relatively small doesn't go according to plan, the anxiety reaction is much stronger than in would have been in a world before, mobile phones and timetabled, structured activities.

Bullying has always existed at school, at work. But I can see how extreme bullying could drive people over edge if they weren't supported.e.g. if their parents were bullies too .

IMO far too much is expected of children now by the schools and parents. Some dcs can't cope with it. Also parents are at work to pay for their ridiculously expensive houses. Making it harder to support their dcs.

Pollution in cities, not walking anywhere, bad diets full of sugar and wheat , resorting to alcohol and ADs which can become addictive. Not enough fresh foods. The food is grown in depleted soil too.

Life is bloody stressful, expensive and there’s a lot of pressure from an early age. There is a a way out, but it’s a lifestyle change and I don’t think people mostly want to hear it.

Sorry that sounded more mysterious than I meant I work outdoors and it’s greatly improved my mental health. I changed careers in my twenties.

When I went to the GP, they said it was the most common problem that people between 25 and 40 have. They believed it was due to advances in technology and our brains not being able to cope with the constant pressure of always being available and having access to all information straight away as we have not been brought up with it.
The anxiety I have is definitely enabled by technology but stems from school and a late diagnoses of dyslexia.

I was diagnosed with anxiety and prescribed beta blockers and sertraline. I gave up alcohol and my anxiety all but disappeared. I still have the occasional panic attack but nothing like when I was drinking.
I belong to a few groups and its surprising how many of us suffered less or zero anxiety since quitting the sauce. So from my non peer reviewed study I would say that a lot is caused by alcohol. Even small amounts of alcohol fuck with your brain chemistry.
Before I get slated for saying this I know several people that don't drink at all with anxiety. I still think a lot is caused by it.