The dictionary defines anxiety as 'a feeling of worry, nervousness or unease, typically related to an imminent event, or something with an uncertain outcome'. For many people, anxiety is a lifelong affliction, which causes them to wake up anxious, and unable to understand why they feel so worried throughout the day. Such cases are known as generalised anxiety disorders, but there is a long list of many other anxiety-related illnesses.
In 2018, the Association of American Psychologists surveyed around one thousand American adults, and found that 39% of them felt a great deal more anxious than in 2017, and a further 39% experienced the same level of anxiety as the previous year. So the overall trend is not good.
A study published in 2017 in the JAMA Psychiatry journal analysed levels of generalised anxiety disorder around the world, and found that the percentage of people suffering from the condition was greater in high-income countries compared to lower and middle-income areas.
Anxiety is a strange beast. It is a close relative of panic, and both stem from fear, which humans are still unable to manage effectively, despite millions of years of evolution. Over time, we have developed what neuroscientists call the prefrontal cortex, which is a layer that sits on top of our more primitive survival brain. Anxiety arises when the prefrontal cortex does not have enough information to accurately predict the future. Without accurate information, the human brain kicks into high gear, and creates scenarios of fear and dread that we are unable to control.
However, it is important to remember that fear itself is not the same as anxiety. While fear is a fundamental adaptive survival mechanism, anxiety is maladaptive and causes the human brain to lose control if it does not have enough information.
