Anxious for Nothing Study Guide

According the National Institute of Mental Health, anxiety disorders are reaching epidemic proportions. In a given year, 17% of Americans will feel the effects of a panic attack. Anxiety-related issues are the number one mental health problem among women and are second only to alcohol and drug abuse among men. Between 1997 and 2004, Americans more than doubled their spending on anti-anxiety medications from $900 million to $2.1 billion.

We are tense. Why? Change is one reason. Sociologists speculate the world has changed more in the last thirty years than it has in the last three hundred! Every day seems to bring new change and threats. We also face personal challenges—job loss, cancer, divorce, addiction, bankruptcy. Add to personal challenges those of a global nature imported into our lives every few seconds thanks to smart phones, TVs, and computer screens. In our parents' day, the nightly news caught them up on world events. Now it is a matter of...