Linda Carroll, HEALTH TODAY, August 20, 2012
The number of men and women suffering from acute anxiety is increasing, and experts say our stressful, fast-paced lifestyles are not helping. NBC’s Dr. Nancy Snyderman reports on the 1200 percent increase in the number of people suffering from anxiety since 1980.
We’ve become a very tense and anxious nation.
Millions of us are kept awake at night by racing thoughts and are so edgy during the day that our blood pressure skyrockets and our hearts pound — even though there’s no real threat in sight.
Over the past three decades anxiety disorders have jumped more than 1,200 percent, with as many as 117 million adults in the U.S. reporting high levels of anxiety, studies indicate.
“Some experts point to our high-paced, stressful lifestyle as feeding fear, issuing in this new age of anxiety,” NBC news chief medical editor, Dr. Nancy Snyderman said. “I think we’re looking at almost the perfect storm. We’ve underdiagnosed it in the past and we’re probably overdiagnosing it now. We ramp it up in each other.”
We’ve become a very tense and anxious nation.
Millions of us are kept awake at night by racing thoughts and are so edgy during the day that our blood pressure skyrockets and our hearts pound — even though there’s no real threat in sight.
Over the past three decades anxiety disorders have jumped more than 1,200 percent, with as many as 117 million adults in the U.S. reporting high levels of anxiety, studies indicate.
“Some experts point to our high-paced, stressful lifestyle as feeding fear, issuing in this new age of anxiety,” NBC news chief medical editor, Dr. Nancy Snyderman said. “I think we’re looking at almost the perfect storm. We’ve underdiagnosed it in the past and we’re probably overdiagnosing it now. We ramp it up in each other.”