Anxiety is a natural reaction to stress, but most people see anxiousness as a temporary state — something that crops up alongside an important work project or before a long flight to a city you’ve never been to. But for someone with an anxiety disorder, anxiety is a persistent and exhausting state.
Around 19 percent of American adults struggle with a type of anxiety disorder at some point in their lives, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Despite how common these mental health issue are, anxiety disorders can be tough to understand if you’ve never experienced them firsthand.
Dr. Watkins is a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she's the Associate Director of The Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds, and was previously the Associate Training Director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Residency Training Program.
Dr. Saltz is a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medicine and a psychoanalyst with the New York Psychoanalytic Institute.
Dr. Michaelis is a clinical and media psychologist in New York City.
Dr. Hartstein is the owner of Hartstein Psychological Services, a group psychotherapy practice in New York City.
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2021). What are anxiety disorders?
Anxiety and Depression Association of America. (n.d.). Facts & statistics.
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