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Anxiety has a charming way of making one feel as if they’re utterly alone, which is a cool trick when you consider that, according to a new review out of the University of Cambridge, about 4 percent of people worldwide have been diagnosed with anxiety disorders. Maybe we’re not so alone after all, huh?
Of that 4 percent, the highest prevalence is in North America, with nearly 8 out of 100 struggling with anxiety—and women of all ages all over the world get the brunt of it, as they’re almost twice as likely as men to be affected by the telltale symptoms of worry, fear, and general unease. The BBC writes, “[Lead researcher] Olivia Remes said this could be because of hormonal fluctuations or because women are more prone to stress in general, or because of their traditional role of caring for the young.”
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Essentially, the review suggests that women tend to be more anxious overall because they just have more to worry about, though it’s possible that differences in brain chemistry between the genders has something to do with it. There’s also the fact that men are less likely to report anxiety symptoms, leaving the statistics scale tipped dramatically toward women.
These new findings are crucial, especially because, as Remes says, “There has been a lot of focus on depression, which is important, but anxiety is equally important and debilitating; it can lead to the development of other diseases and psychiatric disorders, increase the risk for suicide, and is associated with high costs to society.” To wit, HealthDay says that anxiety disorders are estimated to cost $42 billion a year in the United States, which is about $42 billion minus $25 times the price of an Ativan refill with health insurance.
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