In the US alone, at least 40 million people (18 years and older) are affected by anxiety disorders of some kind every year, making it the most common mental disorder there is. Women are often diagnosed with anxiety disorders more often than men.
Anxiety disorders are easily treatable, and yet only 37% of these 40 million people are receiving treatment. This causes 25.1% of American youth from the ages of 13 to 18 to be affected. Research shows that untreated youths are prone to doing poorly in school, miss out on important social experiences, and abuse substances.
Locally in Singapore, although we are a small city-state, we definitely aren’t immune from the effects of anxiety. Around 10% of people have anxiety and depressive disorders here. Specifically, 1.6% of people (or around 90 219 people) have Generalised Anxiety Disorder, while 3.6% of people have OCD.
Globally, 1 in 13 people (around 592 247 185 people) suffers from anxiety disorders. This is a staggering amount that clearly shows how bad the state of anxiety is.
Sadly, though treatment is widely available, almost 75% of people in remain untreated in less developed countries, leading to a shocking 1 million people taking their lives because of anxiety each year!
Looking at all these statistics, it’s very easy to see the plight of those with anxiety. Hopefully, this post makes you more aware of exactly how many people battle with anxiety around the world. In our next post, we’ll be examining a few misconceptions and stigma that people have about anxiety.
Source (Infographic):
https://crosswinds.org/family-counseling/counseling-specialties/anxiety/
Source (Text):
Breaking Through The Stigma on Mental Illness 