Andrea Peterson, author of On Edge: A Journey Through Anxiety, writes that the greatest risk factor for an anxiety disorder is not genetics, past trauma or stressful life experiences.
Simply, it’s being born female.
A study released over the weekend by Jean Hailes for Women’s Health, found that 40 per cent of Australian women have been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder or depression by a doctor or psychologist.
A “concerning” number expressed issues with sleep and reported, “worrying excessively about different things”.
For most of us, 40 per cent looks very much like two meaningless digits. We can’t quantify it – and we certainly can’t feel it. “Worrying excessively,” sounds clinical and emotionless, when anxiety is by it’s very nature emotional.
So what do those statistics actually look like?
They look like lying under your bed for hours at a time, yet feeling as though you’re tripping down a flight of stairs. It’s moving through the world believing you’re an empty vessel – watching yourself from above, convinced you’re in a dream.
It’s chronic, unwavering guilt. It’s self-sabotage – preparing for things that matter to you and freezing. It’s lying awake in bed at 4am, feeling as though there’s a tonne of bricks on your chest. It’s hating yourself more than you’ve ever hated anyone. It’s believing a terrorist attack or a natural disaster is imminent. It’s wondering if these heart palpations will kill you.
Top Comments
There's one big problem with this statement that being female is the biggest risk of suffering from anxiety though... it's based on reported numbers of people being diagnosed / seeking help.
Women are much more likely to seek help for mental illness than men are. Many, many suffer from mental illness like anxiety and depression but are too ashamed to seek treatment as it makes you look weak.
Why does this site always put everything down to gender???
Men get it, they're just less likely to go to the doctor, often because they're scared! Ever wondered why so many men won't ask for directions? Scared! So many tasks that men have traditionally not done in families? Scared!
Schools teaching more life skills, in financial areas, first aid, or how to change a washer in a tap, or a tyre, etc, would fit out more people with the confidence to cope with the unexpected.
I agree totally about getting exercise. Meds are a bridge that facilitate therapy and desensitisation programmes.
We are living under the shadow of a potential war in Asia. Women are putting filters over their profile pictures to look perfect. A recession might be around the corner. Australians work the highest hours in full time work. There's lots of press about pedophiles. The list goes on. So much to get anxious about. Turning off all media for periods helps.
We moved to a small town where I can shop in trakkies with no makeup. Takes some of the pressure off.