Anxiety Facts: All You Need to Know

How common is it?

Just about everybody experiences anxiety in some form or another. But for some, it’s much more extreme than for others and can be all-encompassing.

Anxiety disorders are common. In fact, they’re the most common mental health condition in the United States.

• More than 31% of U.S. people will experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their lifetimes.
• Anxiety disorders are more common in females than males.
• Social anxiety disorder is one of the most common anxiety disorders, affecting around 12% of U.S. adults at some point in their lives.
• Specific phobias are also common. Worldwide, anywhere from 3–15% of people live with specific phobias, most commonly involving phobias to animals and heights.
• Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) affects almost 6% of U.S. adults at some point in their lives. While highly treatable, almost half of people experience symptoms of GAD for 2+ years before being diagnosed and treated.

Anxiety and gender

Women, gender-nonconforming, and transgender individuals experience anxiety disorders at higher rates:

• Women are nearly twice as likely to develop an anxiety disorder compared with men.
• One study found that anxiety disorders were more than 2 times as prevalent in gender-nonconforming and transgender individuals as in cisgender (gender-conforming) males.

Anxiety and age

Anxiety doesn’t discriminate by age. Anxiety disorders affect people of all ages:

• Around 8.5% of children ages 3–17 lived with an anxiety disorder, according to a 2018–2019 survey.
• GAD tends to develop later in life than other anxiety disorders, with an average age of onset of 35 years old.

What causes anxiety?

In many cases, anxiety is a learned coping mechanism.

For instance, patterns of negative thoughts or catastrophic thinking — believing that something bad will happen to you — is related to anxiety. These thoughts are there to protect you from possible danger, but ultimately, they aren’t the most effective tool for making you feel better.

Another coping style is avoiding objects or situations that feel scary or harmful. This avoidance means that you don’t get exposed to that thing, so you aren’t able to learn that it’s actually harmless. This makes the cycle of anxiety difficult to break.

Negative thoughts and avoidance often occur together. That’s why cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and exposure therapy are two of the firstline treatments for anxiety.

Scientists suspect that there are many causes of anxiety disorders. These include:

• Genetics. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, you’re more likely to develop an anxiety disorder if a family member has an anxiety disorder or other mental health condition.
• Environment. Traumatic events like abuse or exposure to violence, particularly in childhood, increase the possibility of developing an anxiety disorder.
• Preexisting conditions. Some illnesses and diseases, like hypothyroidism, raise your chance of developing an anxiety disorder.

Social factors

Social factors play a significant role in the development of anxiety disorders.

For example, domestic and sexual violence, enforcement of traditional gender roles, workplace harassment, and other social inequities are associated with an increased prevalence of anxiety disorders.

Other factors can make individuals in some communities more vulnerable to anxiety disorders, including:

• poverty
• displacement
• loss of cultural heritage
• degradation relating to climate change
• other environmental risk factors

Co-occurring conditions

Anxiety disorders and other mental health conditions often coexist:

• Nearly half of people diagnosed with depression are also diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.
• Some research has reported that at least 17% of U.S. adults with a substance use disorder also had an anxiety disorder.

Does anxiety affect your physical health?

Anxiety may increase the likelihood of physical health conditions, and vice versa:

• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), chronic pain disorders, high blood pressure, asthma, and other physical health issues are associated with anxiety disorders.
• If you have both an anxiety disorder and a physical condition, it’s important to treat both to best manage your symptoms.

Anxiety feels different for different people, but many symptoms are shared. The mental and physical symptoms of anxiety can include:

• excessive and consistent worrying
• restlessness
• irritability
• muscle tension
• difficulty concentrating
• sleep problems
• fatigue
• heart palpitations
• sweating
• upset stomach or nausea

Anxiety and COVID-19

The stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic — lockdown, financial worries, and health concerns — have had an impact on many peoples’ mental health, which has led to increased reports of anxiety and depression.

Recent reports have shown the effects of the pandemic on peoples’ anxiety levels:

• According to an American Psychiatric Association (APA) report, 78% of adults said that the coronavirus pandemic is a significant source of stress in their lives. And 67% said their stress levels have increased over the course of the pandemic.
• Based on data from the Mental Health America (MHA) screening tool, the number of people reporting signs of anxiety hit an all-time high in September 2020.

Reports have shown that some groups were more likely to develop anxiety disorders during the pandemic, including the following:

• The proportion of MHA screeners showing signs of moderate to severe anxiety was highest among Native Americans (84%).
• Those who identified as Asian or Pacific Islander and Other showed the biggest increase in people with anxiety between 2019 and 2020.
• Gen Z adults (ages 18–23) reported significantly higher stress levels than people ages 24 and up. Around 34% of Gen Z adults reported their mental health was worse in 2020 than in 2019.

Among the top reasons for declining mental health during the pandemic? Isolation and loneliness.

• Loneliness and isolation ranked among the top 3 factors contributing to worsened mental health in 70% of people with moderate to severe anxiety symptoms.
• Decreased closeness in relationships, financial uncertainty, and the death of loved ones were also cited as reasons for increased anxiety this year.
• More than 44% of people of color reported discrimination as a significant source of stress in their life.

Feelings of anxiety are perfectly natural. In fact, there are evolutionary reasons for why anxiety exists, both in animals and humans.

The familiar discomfort of anxiety was an important tool to help our ancestors avoid danger. It helped us move away from harm, avoid behaviors that could be harmful, and mentally prepare for danger.

Nowadays, the sources of our fears and anxieties tend not to be the family of bears around the corner, or the prospect of crossing a raging river to find food.

Rather, we stress about intangible and uncertain threats farther in the future. This creates a longer window of anxiety, which is often unproductive and harmful.

So even though anxiety has evolutionary origins, modern society poses historically unfamiliar challenges to humans.

We worry about our kids’ futures, our personal relationships, and the well-being of our entire planet. With TV and social media, we’re constantly bombarded with bad news.

While a measure of anxiety is normal, it can also lead some people to believe that anxiety is an effective tool for motivation, cueing us into action.

However, it’s important to note that while anxiety can be a motivator, above-average levels of anxiety can ultimately cause problems by increasing your physical and mental stress levels and affecting how you function in your life and relationships.

In other words, yes, anxiety is normal. But when it becomes overwhelming enough to interfere with your daily activities and harm your overall well-being, you may benefit from treatment and coping methods.

The list of anxiety disorders is extensive. Types include:

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

GAD is distinct from other types of anxiety in that it’s characterized by worry and rumination about a range of everyday topics, such as work, finances, scheduling, and completing everyday tasks effectively.

People with GAD show signs of excessive anxiety on most days for a minimum of 6 months. It’s more common in adults.

This anxiety is chronic and can vary in severity.

For some people, GAD is an invisible condition. People may try to accomplish as much as they can throughout the day, so the effects it has on their functioning is often missed because they may appear highly productive even though they’re living with a lot of stress.

Panic disorder

Panic disorder involves recurring panic attacks — sometimes called anxiety attacks — which are periods of intense fear and anxiety lasting several minutes or longer. They can occur unexpectedly or be induced by a trigger.

Symptoms of a panic attack include:

• palpitations
• sweating
• shortness of breath
• dizziness
• shaking

Panic disorder is only diagnosed if a panic attack is followed by at least 1 month of persistent fear about having another attack. So you can have a panic attack (or several) without being diagnosed with panic disorder.

Specific phobias

Specific phobias are irrational or excessive fears of one or more stimuli — common phobias include airplanes, blood, spiders, and public speaking.

Phobias make functioning around the trigger nearly impossible. You’ll also be anxious just at the thought of it.

Social anxiety disorder

People with social anxiety disorder have significant anxiety in social situations and worry that their behaviors will be judged negatively by others.

Social anxiety disorder is one of the most common types of anxiety disorders. Social phobia, as it was previously called, can develop in adults, but it often begins in childhood.

Separation anxiety disorder

Separation anxiety disorder is marked by a developmentally inappropriate attachment to another person and extreme anxiety when separated.

Similar to social phobia, separation anxiety disorder usually emerges in childhood, but can be diagnosed later in life, as well.

Anxiety is often wrongly dismissed as an overreaction to manageable stress, but an anxiety disorder isn’t something you can simply “snap out of.”

But with the right treatment tools and coping methods, most people can feel anxious less often. Learning to manage your anxiety is key to reducing its effects on your life.

Anxiety disorders are highly treatable, yet the Anxiety & Depression Association of America (ADAA) says that only 36.9% of people receive medical help for them.

If you’ve been feeling intense anxiety recently or are experiencing other symptoms of an anxiety disorder, reaching out to your primary care doctor is an important first step. They may refer you to a mental health specialist.

Treatments for anxiety disorders include:

• cognitive therapy:
  • cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
  • exposure therapy
• medications:
  • benzodiazepines (e.g. Xanax, Klonopin, Valium)
  • antidepressants
  • beta-blockers
• complementary and alternative medicine (CAM):
  • meditation
  • yoga
  • acupuncture

Complementary approaches, like meditation and yoga, are good additions to your treatment plan, but you’ll often need a combination of other treatments and strategies for an anxiety disorder.

The most important thing to remember is that you should always have a voice in your treatment, making clear what you are and aren’t comfortable with.

Learning to manage your anxiety takes trial and error, and being open with your doctor about whether different approaches work will help them tailor treatments specifically to you.

Feeling anxious right now? Take a deep breath. Here are some quick tips to help you reduce your anxiety right away.

For more information on finding a therapist or psychological help, you can visit our find help page here.

Though it’s always a good idea to talk to a doctor or mental health professional when having symptoms of anxiety, there are other small steps you can take to help you feel better.

Talking with a trusted friend or joining a support group may help relieve some of your stress and anxiety. It’s often in these interactions that you realize you’re not alone in your thoughts and emotions.