According to the ADAA, anxiety disorders are the most common type of mental illness by affecting 1 of 5 Americans. Our culture has transformed to where anxiety and depression is a much more spoken of topic. Because of this change, many people are seeking help. It is estimated that 40 million adults are affected but only 36.9% seek help for this treatable condition.
It has been said that millenials are the most anxiety ridden generation. Is this because expectations are getting higher and higher to get into great schools? Is it because there are expectations to workout everyday and have a perfect body? Have a job? Dress a certain way? Live up to one’s family’s expectations? On top of all of this, is there even time to sleep? I do believe that this generation is one of the most stressed out. We are the first generation to grow up in a culture consumed by social media and the internet. The internet makes us feel the need to move at hyperspeed to have a competitive edge in our career, social lives, schooling, and so on. The need to be the best or “fit in” can cause some pretty intense anxiety.
I, myself, am a full-time graduate student, working a full-time job, a newly married wife, a dog mom, all while striving to be accepted into my top choice for pharmacy school. It’s very easy to let loved ones slip away and to have a helpless feeling feeding the anxiety of letting people down and not being there for the ones you care about. While doing all this, living different lives in one, many people do not see the amount of stress we are under. Everyone experiences stress but there are periods in life of high stress and low stress. When in a period of high stress, I think about what I am working towards and that it will not be forever.
Finally, if you are reading this as a millenial, I just want to urge you to continue the conversation of mental health so that there is no longer a stigma surrounding it.
Let me end with this quote.
“You are not going to master the rest of your life in one day. Just relax. Master the day. Then just keep doing that every day.”
Understanding Anxiety Disorders 