THE ANXIETY EPIDEMIC

STRESS IS DISABLING FOR AN ALARMING NUMBER OF AMERICANS, BUT SCIENCE CAN HELP

- Dan Hurley

ANGIE LANDEROS KNEW HER DAUGHTER had always been shy. "Very, very shy," she says. "She always felt awkward talking to other kids her age."

Then came the COVID-19 lockdowns in March, 2020. Ten years old, Landeros' daughter began feeling unbearably self-conscious seeing herself on the computer screen during Zoom lessons. When her elementary school went to a hybrid format that required most kids to attend in person, some days she'd refuse to go. Once she had a full-blown panic attack in the car and began kicking and screaming. On another day, says Landeros, "she literally ran out the door to hide from us."

Since Landeros and her husband, Michael Bloch, are psychiatrists at the Yale Child Study Center, they knew what their daughter was going through: social anxiety disorder. She wasn't the only one. According to a national survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, adults reporting symptoms of anxiety and depression on a near-daily basis jumped to 41 percent in 2021, from 11 percent in 2019. Nearly eight in 10 adults said COVID-19 was causing significant stress in their lives, according to a survey by the American Psychological Association (APA).

The pandemic is just only one of many anxiety-provoking headlines. Climate change has 59 percent of young people feeling very or extremely worried, an international survey published in the Lancet medical journal found. School shootings have 57 percent of teens and 63 percent of adults somewhat or very worried, according to a Pew Research Center survey. The 2020 election was a "significant" source of stress for two-thirds of adults in the U.S., a survey by the APA found, compared to just over half in 2016. The economy is a major source of stress for 87 percent of Americans and the Russian invasion of Ukraine is stressing out 80 percent of U.S. adults, a Harris poll found early this year.