The Anxiety Epidemic: The Causes of our Modern-Day Anxieties

by Graham Davey

Highly commended at the British Medical Association Book Awards 2019

Are we living in an age of unprecedented anxiety, or has this always been a problem throughout history?

We only need look around us to see anxieties: in the family home, the workplace, on social media, and especially in the news. It's true that everyone feels anxious at some time in their lives, but we're told we're all feeling more anxious than we've ever been before - and for longer than we've ever done before. It's even reported that anxiety is a modern epidemic significant enough to challenge the dominance of depression as the most common mental health problem.

Much of this increase has been attributed to changes in lifestyles that have led to more stress and pressure being placed on people: from childhood, to adolescence, to adulthood. But that's a big claim. Going back over the generations, how anxious were people in 1968 or 1818? Are people just anxious all the time - regardless of what they do or when they lived? Is anxiety an inevitable consequence of simply being alive?

Graham Davey addresses many important questions about the role of anxiety. What is it good for? What are the unique modern-day causes of our anxieties and stresses? What turns normal everyday anxiety into the disabling disorders that many of us experience - distressing and debilitating conditions such as phobias, social anxiety, panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, pathological worrying and post-traumatic stress disorder? To truly conquer anxiety, we need to understand why it has established its prominent place in our modern world.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Mental Health, Self Help, Unfinished

400 pages, Paperback

Published February 2, 2021

Reviews

[Sophy H · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a well written book that encompassed a LOT of information, perhaps a little too much!

There are some great explanations of different types of anxieties and disorders, and good suggestions for self-help.

I've found however that books dealing with "modern day" anxieties tend to have the same suspects listed, social media and constant connectivity to the world. I'm an anxious person and always have been looking back to my childhood and early adulthood. I was born in the 1970's. My anxiety has increased exponentially as I've gotten older but by no means is it due to social media or connectivity to the world. If anything, cat videos on Instagram and sites such as this where I can stay connected have been a source of succour in particularly difficult times. I wonder sometimes if these two aspects are just grasped at because there is no real answer to why we're anxious. Just a thought.

Good writing but perhaps a little too long.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very well written and provides the reader with well researched material on anxiety. I studied psychology many years ago at university so this type of academic research on the subject appealed to me, however even if you are just interested in anxiety either as someone who has experienced it or just want some factual knowledge this book would likely appeal to you. The author has a lovely way of presenting the information in an engaging and sometimes humorous way, in other words it is not dry! The author also refers to his own life experiences which I found endearing and helpful. The author normalises anxiety which is really important. There are some wonderful tips and exercises that one can practically apply. I highly recommend this book.

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of books on the subject of anxiety are either in the form of the standard 12-step self-help format or are painfully dry to read from a non-medical perspective, so I was pleasantly surprised by how both engaging and accessible The Anxiety Epidemic is.

The author takes a deep dive into this hugely complex topic and breaks it down into flowing chapters, evaluating everything from the history of anxiety, the many different forms and disorders of anxiety, to analyzing how modern-day living has impacted our mental health and how we understand and diagnose anxiety. He shares his own experiences which is always useful to relate to.

[Keysha Gibbons · Rating 2 out of 5]

dnf would like to reattempt to read