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.

[MsMellivora]

Diagnosed more plus social media and let’s be honest this is an anon forum so far more people will admit to it. Plus lots of anxious folks use web forums for socialising so bit of a self selecting group.

[duffeldaisy]

People have been having MH problems for years and years. I had relatives who suffered from their nerves, one who had 'nervous tummy' (hospitalised with ulcers several times from what would now be their anxiety), one who 'was a bit shaky after the war', one who simply chose not to leave the house alone, because that was just their 'personality'...

At least nowadays MH is treated as something separate from personality, and it's taken not just as how someone is, but a set of symptoms that can be relieved through more information and support, or through drugs.

I do think that the last 10 years have been particularly grim, though. Being able to earn enough on a 'normal' income to afford stable accommodation, decent food and a dignified standard of living makes a huge difference to mental wellbeing. We have elderly relatives who bought a home and raised a small family (with a lot of saving and hard work) on one manual worker's wage. Nowadays, even well-paid twenty or thirty somethings (or older) can't ever hope to do that, and I do think that the lack of security really does impact on everyone - even those with a solid roof over their head, because a very unequal society never works out well for anyone.

[Fivetillmidnight]

There is a definite link between the primary care giver being anxious and child also.. studies by University of Sussex.. there is even a parent program somewhere that helps these parents not 'pass it on' .. I will try and find a link. Think it was in R4 'all in the mind'

It's extremely common for an anxious parent to come from a family where another parent suffered from anxiety. So could go back generations to a parent who had a tangible reason for their anxiety. The thing I heard was as a result of the First WW .. waiting to hear if your son was dead or alive.. horrific and understandable anxiety.

[X2Kevintheteenagers]

News feed or fed doom and gloom news . all part of the plan . throw the TV away or just watch what you chose

[lljkk]

I (almost) only encounter this anxious world on MN. Internet magnifies the unhappy people largest. it feels to me, as someone from a culture that deprecates anxiety, like a lot of MNers promote anxiety and feel defensive about their... habit of being anxious & believing being anxious is the right way to be.

"That can't possibly do" sort of attitudes. MN is definitely NOT a laid-back place that promotes diversity & tolerance or resilience.

[Blibbyblobby]

I think it was always there but not labelled. So people would be “neurotic”, “a bit fragile”, “on pills for my nerves”, but it was seen as part of their personality not a MH problem.

[CakeandCustard28]

I think social media has a lot to blamed for!
I suffer with anxiety and within a few weeks of deleting Facebook, etc. I felt a lot better for it.

[NoIDontWatchLoveIsland]

I think our societal structure, parental priorities and school system don't seem to produce resilience along the way. I'm sure i will be slated for my view but i think in the west we have a difficult combination of extremely high social pressures, with a broad safety net.... it sets people up to repeatedly fail but never be forced into a different approach by the need to survive. Furthermore, social media magnifies normal levels of emotional response into all consuming issues.

People are isolated from RL support.

[Hoik]

It's mainly for access to the increased benefits, sadly one of the drawbacks of de-stigmatising mental health issues is the huge increase in people fraudulently claiming to be suffering, to the detriment of those genuine cases.

Do you have any experience or knowledge if these "increased benefits"? It is increasingly difficult to claim benefits relating to ill health or disability and peddling this myth that people "put it on" in order to fraudulently claim benefits is shameful because it simply is not true. There has not been a huge increase in people fraudulently claiming increased benefits due to illness and the overall percentage of welfare lost to fraud is incredibly small. It is attitudes like yours and the lies you spread that cause detriment to genuine cases.

[PhilSwagielka]

I think in my case, I started having it when my dad was ill with cancer while I was a child, especially when he became terminal, and it's never really gone away. I'm 35 now. It runs in my family - my mum and brother have both had trouble with panic attacks.

[PlomBear]

I’m so anxious at the moment that I can’t leave the house.

[SmileyClare]

Agree Hoik Benefit fraud is the reason for an increase in people claiming they have anxiety?! Ha that's ridiculous.

It's actually harder than ever for people to "go on the sick". Even people with serious incapacitating disabilities have had their benefits cut to the bone and are deemed Fit For Work under new benefit reforms.

[peaceanddove]

Like most people I had experienced feeling anxious before my driving test or a visit to the dentist. But a few years ago I was put onto a new type of medication which I reacted to very seriously. It wasn't anxiety, more an overwhelming sensation of dread that was so horrible. In fact I struggle to describe how dreadful this constant feeling of dread and anxiety felt. Within a few days I went from being outgoing and enjoying my life to being this terrified shell of a person who was scared to even answer the phone. It was just horrific and at its worst death seemed far preferable to carry on living in that Hell.

So when I see people casually tossing around the word 'anxiety' whilst still booking a holiday or going out to a party it does make me grind my teeth. They simply have no idea.

[SmileyClare]

Anxiety is such a broad term though. It perhaps should be better catogorised to determine whether it's diagnosed and the level of severity.

I mean you have sufferers who are completely debilitated and can hardly function. Their life is hugely impacted.
It must be difficult when they hear people cheerfully commenting on their Social anxiety when all they mean is they are a bit shy and intimidated in public (normal) or I see on here a lot- Health Anxiety because they worry about their own or dc's health (again normal).

Some people seem to have forgotten that feeling anxious is a human emotion. It's not equal to Anxiety as a mental health disorder.

I'd say this is similar to someone referring to "their OCD" because they like their sofa cushions neatly arranged.

[gamerwidow]

I don’t think it is more prevalent these days just that people are more comfortable talking about it. When my mum was diagnosed with anxiety and depression 30 years ago it was treated like a big guilty secret and we forbidden to tell anyone. When I was first diagnosed with anxiety 20 years ago I was told by my manager to keep it quiet because the other staff members wouldn’t understand and would think I was taking the piss. It’s only in the last 10 years or so I’ve been able to be open about it.

[SmileyClare]

Sorry PeaceandDove cross post. I'm not your sock puppet
But yes I agree.

[Parsley65]

It can run in families. It does in mine.
My Mother had it. She became an alcoholic and was institutionalised.
Now my teenage daughter has it. She is on antidepressants and has had two years of counselling.
I think it's much more accepted now.

[gamerchick]

I never used to. Caring for someone with EUPD took its toll. Don't suffer from depression though. The gym helps with anxiety, it's been a life saver for mental well being.

Also don't claim any benefits as someone said. Fuxache, some people.

[StripyHorse]

Hopefully the stigma around mental health is reducing so people feel more able to talk about it.

Also, a factor might be the fact that people signed off work with mental health issues have more time to spend on their devices scrolling through mumsnet than people who work full time. So the population of mumsnet could be skewed.

[CoveredInSnow]

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

@Dontdisturbmenow Yes, that is true. Anxiety is what happens when our brain tells us that that shadow could be a lion coming to eat us, or a hole in the ground we could fall in. There is a reason why anxiety - as an emotion - exists.

However clinical anxiety is when normal anxiety gets out of control. Everyone feels anxious sometimes, whether it's because we're worried about getting to the airport on time or we're concerned a company restructure will mean losing our jobs. However, when anxiety takes over your life, clouds your judgment and leads you to limit what you can do no matter how hard you try to be 'normal', that's not normal anxiety.

There's a big difference between the two.

And I absolutely agree with the poster up-thread who said we humans haven't really evolved into our own lifestyles.

[picklemepopcorn]

Decision fatigue.

These days people decide daily what to wear, what to eat for breakfast (from a bewildering selection), what to take for lunch, what to eat in the evening, what to watch on tv.
Then when they shop, what brand toothpaste, an enormous range of choices and decisions. That's just about trivial stuff, let alone bigger questions like what car, where to holiday, whether to change job etc.

That's radically different from only having basics foods available, a best outfit and an everyday outfit.

People are burnt out by everyday life.

[mumofamenagerie]

Not new but much more widely accepted. I recently learnt that my great grandfather had depression and anxiety, as did my grandfather and his siblings, my mum and now me. So at least 4 generations in my family and who knows how many came before? Think of all those Victorian women with ‘hysteria’ or those with ‘the nerves’. It’s treated more seriously now which is a good thing.

[DefConOne]

I’m in my 40s and I’ve had it since childhood but didn’t know it had a band until my 30s. Was assessed for PND which was negative but scored highly for anxiety. I didn’t know it was a thing before that, had a few sessions of counselling and now I self manage where I can. Some days it takes all the energy I have to leave the house but very few people have any idea how much anxiety I have. Hold down z as job, friends, hobbies etc. It has physical effects like hair loss and irritable bowel syndrome.

[KatherineJaneway]

I think in previous decades you either sank or swam. You were some who 'suffered with their nerves' or you learned to live with it / mask it.

[okiedokieme]

There's definitely multiple issues, one is that more people especially younger ones are getting clinical anxiety for sure, more people are asking for help, more people talk about their mh struggles and finally (perhaps controversially) I think we aren't as resilient, we expect things to be perfect and amazing, life isn't always so people think that's a medical issue whereas before it wasn't.

My dd is on medication for anxiety and depression, exh is on anti anxiety meds, dp is on antidepressants ... I know all the brands ... but I openly admit i have no idea what it feels like because I'm the opposite, an optimist, can meditate I destress etc