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A cold stomach, a feeling of impending doom, avoidance of stressful situations, and excessive worry. These are the first signs that you might be suffering from one of the most common mental health disorder in the world. According to the latest studies, anxiety affects women in Western Europe and North America more than in any other part of the world.
Anxiety may occur frequently, but researchers discovered that a significant percentage of the affected doesn’t acknowledge the existence of the disease. Below, we have compiled a short list of things you might not know about this disorder.
Women Are More Prone to Develop It
Scientists have found that anxiety is most common in Western Europe and North America. In both geographical regions, women were considerably more affected than men. One explanation of this phenomenon might lie in the chemical balance of our bodies.
Women experience more hormonal disturbances than men. Thus they are more prone to experience a chemical imbalance in their body and brain. When this happens, the brain starts secreting other, compensatory substances that may aggravate the situation, causing the patients to develop mild mental health issues.
People Under 35 Are More Affected
The researchers that conducted the latest study on the rate of occurrence of anxiety used a wide sample of cultures in their work.
It seems that no matter the social climate or geographical area, individuals that are aged 35 or less are more affected by anxiety than those aged 36 and higher.
The only exception for this was Pakistan where scientists found that middle-aged people registered the highest rates of the mental health syndrome.
Internet or Gambling Addicts Are More Likely to Suffer from IT
According to the results of the study, opioid abuse, internet addiction, and pathological gambling are linked to a global increase in anxiety disorders.
On a global scale, approximately thirty-seven percent of individuals with a pathological gambling addiction also suffered from the mental health syndrom.
In the case of Internet addicts, it seems that the disorder was twice as likely to occur than in the case of the control group.
It Usually Hides Other Neurological and Mental Problems
It seems that individuals that suffer from multiple sclerosis, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia are more likely to suffer from anxiety.
According to the data presented in the study, between 13 and 28 percent of people diagnosed with bipolar disorder in Europe also suffered from anxiety.
In the case of schizophrenia, it seems that roughly 12 percent of all the patients also presented symptoms of anxiety.
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