How To Help With the New Hyper-Anxiety!

We are drowning with Anxiety, especially young people. People worry about things we cannot control and we play the "what if" game, causing our brains to produce more Cortisol, adding weight and depleting our resiliency. The reasons are varied but the primary one is the pace of communication today.

In my book, "A Parent's Guide to Teen Anxiety & Stress", I explain how social media is causing an antisocial aspect of society. Although the world endured danger and conflict decades ago, we didn't see it in real time and share thoughts in real time. This pace of communication overload is creating a society of people with inability to focus, a lack of compassion and understanding and is eroding society's level of empathy. Until people learn to slow down and converse at a slower and more thoughtful pace, the problem will continue to grow.

It isn't just teens, preteens and young adults. Even the elderly are now feeling anxiety from world events, a new thing called "News Anxiety" and the general lack of connection between all people. As technology continues to dominate our lives, the explosion of anxiety will be ongoing.

Perspective is a wonderful thing. Do politics bother you? In 1838, a member of Congress murdered another. One member of Congress used to beat his opponents with a cane. During the Great Depression many people went hungry and lived in shacks along railroad corridors and in parks. Are things worse today, or, do we make them worse within our minds?

Look up. Talk. Teach the young people in your life the joy of living without a screen in their face. Do nice things for other people. When you catch yourself saying, "what if?", reply with "so what?". Is the worry worth it?

Humorist Mark Twain said that he knew worry worked because everything he worried about never happened!

Dr. Probst