OPINION: The very definition of anxiety

There’s a high rate of anxiety among Americans today. Since the election, the number of people seeking counseling for anxiety has increased dramatically, and therapists say they’ve never before seen their patients so troubled. My granddaughter, a therapist in Dubuque, reports her people are experiencing the same high level of angst.

Anyone who suffers from anxiety knows what it feels like – intense, excessive and persistent worry and fear about everyday things. It’s not a good feeling, and it often causes sufferers to avoid situations where they feel uncomfortable. It may explain the reported dramatic decline in people watching the news.

What we call anxiety today sounds a lot like what we used to call nerves. I remember as a young girl hearing family members talking about someone who “had problems with their nerves.” I’m sure there was very little understanding of it at the time and probably little or no medications that were available.

At that time, if someone suffered from anxiety – or nerves – it was kind of a hush, hush thing. Many viewed it as a weakness, and any sign of weakness was embarrassing and no one spoke openly about it. My grandmother was even embarrassed when she had a headache.

Today, it’s considered OK to admit to having anxiety. Both men and women of all ages speak openly about taking medication for anxiety and both seek counseling for it. Thankfully, parents are more tuned-in than ever to their children’s emotional distress and are open to seeking counseling and medication for them.

Americans are currently experiencing radical and confusing changes occurring at breakneck speed. These events naturally result in high anxiety, and it’s getting worse every day. America is not accustomed to such wholesale demolishing of norms and policies the minute a new administration takes office. We are frightened and feeling very vulnerable by all the extreme, punitive measures being taken. Instead of making lives better, a lot of lives are being made worse.

There is significant worry over controversial, inexperienced, even unfit, people being selected to run important government departments. Americans are apprehensive about tragic mistakes that could put us all at risk. There is fear our democracy is being damaged beyond repair.

It seems the state of our union today is the very definition of anxiety.

Children are more aware of this turmoil than we might think. They hear the word “fired” and worry their parents will be targeted. They see pictures of people in chains being loaded onto planes and it scares them. Children are sensitive to anxiety and uncertainty in adults they depend on, and it causes them to feel anxious and uncertain themselves.

Although many of our leaders refuse to acknowledge that things are going terribly wrong in the country, professionally trained counselors recognize the situation and are there to help people suffering in these difficult times.

Adults may seek professional help or, at least, express their feelings to compassionate friends and family members. Children and teenagers may turn to guidance counselors, experienced teachers and other sympathetic adults who will listen to them when they express feelings of anxiety and sadness about what is happening.

The elderly also have a role to play here - especially grandparents who are aware of their grandchildren’s fears. Older folks must help younger folks try to make sense of things, then help them regain their faith that America can and will weather this storm.

This threat to our democracy today is very real, but we have faced threats before. The Civil War, the biggest threat of all, almost destroyed the Union. Threats to our democratic way of life were real during WWII, and when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, our very lives were in danger.

After the war, Americans feared Communism would take over the United States - made worse when Sen. Joseph McCarthy overreacted and ruined lives with his witch hunts. And we all remember fearing our democracy was at risk during the Watergate crisis.

Americans stood fast and defeated all those threats to our survival. Today, as the new administration attempts to seize almost total control of the U.S. government, our democracy and our Constitution are under threat again. We now know we cannot depend on the people elected to Congress to protect us. They have shown us they care only about their own survival.

The American people must stand fast, again