Roughly 40 million Americans have a clinically diagnosed anxiety disorder, but many more than that suffer from episodic, occasional or what we might call long-term anxiety. This type of anxiety is not a disorder; in fact, it is becoming normal. As one social media consultant suggested from her own experience: “If you’re a human being living in 2017 and you’re not anxious, there’s something wrong with you.” That feeling is brought on by many causes, including the return of the possibility of nuclear war; routinely reported mass shootings and occasional terrorist attacks; economic frustrations; gender tensions; relentless and constant discrimination; environmental disasters without pause; and digital devices that threaten privacy, personality development, sociability and other aspects of well-being.
These conditions challenge human health, and many enterprises are surfacing to address health issues and lessen the stress that life and anxiety cause. The one counterpoint to the normalization of anxiety is society’s slow shift to a focus on a better way of living, which will take time.