In the past year, nearly 45 million Americans have suffered from so-called anxiety disorders, including anxiety and panic attacks, as well as phobias. That's a lot of people — more than 15 percent of the U.S. population.
And it's a lot of suffering. Anxiety leaves people chronically miserable. A severe panic attack leaves people in cold sweat terror dreading they are dying. And phobias leave people painted into a corner of fear and nasty limitation.
Anxiety disorders have become such a problem in the last 30 or so years that they are now recognized as the No. 1 mental health problem for American women and second only to drug and alcohol abuse for men.
But to label anxiety a "disorder" or a "mental health problem" risks confusing the issue. And it risks shaming the sufferer and leaving them prey to the vultures who seek profit and power by defining life problems as medical conditions so they can medicate as many people as possible.
Just why are fear, anxiety and phobias so prevalent today? Just what has gone on in the last two to three decades that's given rise to so much fear and anxiety? I'm very clear on the one-word answer because I've spent many years researching the problem. It's stress.
Stress is the chief cause of most anxiety, panic and social phobias. But stress is not just about feeling tense and wired. It's about the triggering of our hard-wired "Fight or Flight Response." And it's about the release of toxic hormones — drip, drip drip — into our system. These hormones seep into our blood and tissues where, over time, they set up conditions for "attacks" of fear, anxiety and panic.
In the last 30 years, we've gone through about 400 years of social and technological change. It's been hard for humans to adapt to such speed. In a nutshell, the stress problem is rooted in the fact that we're not properly hard-wired for this fast-paced, complicated and too often meaningless way of life. We're wired for a time that is long gone.
Many people feel lost today having to cope with a life that often makes little sense, a life lacking in clear cues and clues about how to live. And not only are many people under unrelenting financial and work strain, but often their souls also must endure an unsatisfied longing for a loving connection to life and a meaningful connection to other people.
Anxiety, panic, phobias, depression, addiction and many degenerative diseases such as heart disease and diabetes are an outcome of the fact that we are chronically stressed out.
Consider what happens during an anxiety or a panic attack. Suddenly with little or no warning, a sufferer's heart starts pounding. They have trouble breathing, their chest aches, they start sweating and feel fearful that they're losing control and they're about to die — for no apparent reason.
They stand there shaking and trembling in terror, but they have no idea why. And as if this isn't bad enough, they are left anticipating that all this will happen again — at any moment, a moment they have no control over. This anticipatory worry releases more stress hormones and sets up conditions for a vicious cycle of recurring panic attacks.
Now imagine the following. You are on a vacation in the Florida Everglades. You are out one early morning in a canoe with your expert guide. Suddenly, unexpectedly, your guide loses consciousness and falls over, capsizing your canoe. Then more trouble. Thirty yards away on shore there are two alligators. They see you and enter the water. They are coming at you fast — to eat you for lunch. How would you feel?
Like this: Your heart would be pounding, you'd have trouble breathing, your chest would ache, and you'd be shaking and trembling in terror. You'd be thrown into a "Fight or Flight Response" where you'd have to fight or flee to survive — or die.
What happens to you in an anxiety or panic attack is amazingly similar to what happens to you in an alligator attack — except in the latter you know why. Stress hormones play the key role, hormones whose real purpose is to prepare you for a life-or-death struggle.
With this knowledge, it's easier to understand why there are so many people experiencing attacks of fear, anxiety and panic, and why so many people would rather stay at home where it feels safe.
The key to preventing and controlling anxiety and panic attacks is to lower your stress hormone levels and flush stress hormones out of your blood and tissues. To learn more about this, you can download my "Little Black Book of Stress Relief Secrets" free at www.MesicsTraining.com.
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Dr. Jim Manganiello is a clinical health psychologist based in Groveland, author and founder of MESICS (www.MesicsTraining.com) and Stress Radio (www.StressRadio.com), and an expert on stress, personal growth and "inner fitness." A former Daily News columnist from 1988 to 1992, he has returned to the paper with a monthly column on health and quality-of-life issues. E-mail him at drmanganiello@comcast.net.
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