Living with anxiety

A transcript of this episode is available online ����� A list of mental health resources is available on our website

"Everyone has anxiety and you can't really survive childhood without some anxiety," says psychiatrist Dr. Maureen Nash. "It is, at least theoretically, what prevents us from doing catastrophically negative things like walking off a cliff, or hugging the stove when it's red hot."

The fight-or-flight response has its place. We're hard-wired to preserve our overall well-being at the expense of a few anxious moments when we're threatened. But, as Dr. Nash adds, "an anxiety disorder is when you have fight-or-flight gone awry and it is either in excess of what is useful to you or it actually debilitates you."

A growing number of young people are showing symptoms of anxiety, in part due to the zeitgeist (consider a future of global warming, longterm economic prospects, and pushback on efforts to foster inclusion and diversity) and nearly continuous stimulus from electronic devices and social media.

"Trigger after trigger after trigger," says Dr. Robin Henderson, Chief Clinical Officer of WORK2BEWELL, a mental health and wellness program focused on providing mental health resources and education for teens, parents, and educators. ��

"When we look at increasing rates of anxiety -- we see numbers as high as 40% of females, 36% of males, young adult, high school having some symptoms, if not a full on diagnosis of anxiety -- we see numbers that has to be what we're seeing out of the pandemic and all of those stressors there and what we're seeing in social media and, candidly, what we're seeing in the political environment, not limited to climate change, politics, racism, and all of those things. It's a very stimulating world."

But there's hope. There are ways to cope with anxiety even to treat it as one's "superpower." ��Today's episode also includes conversations with two college students who not only live with anxiety, but who are working to help others cope with the stressors they face in the world today. And they share their insights into strategies they use to manage their anxiety. Billie Henderson is a college student in Oregon and Dominic Brown attends college in Southern California. Both have worked to help other young people through WORK2BEWELL.

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RESOURCES

Need to talk now? ��or call 988

Anxiety Grounding Techniques

WORK2BEWELL website

WORK2BEWELL Instagram account

State-by-State Mental Health Resources

Anxiety Disorders (NAMI)

"Hiding in Plain Sight" documentary ��PBS | Amazon

Providence ElderPlace

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