Anxiety-ridden America

While worried about my future summer plans and in between biting my nails and drying my eyes, I stumbled on an Interweb article discussing the high-anxiety American mentality.

The author, Taylor Clark of Slate Magazine, highlights the “three real reasons why Americans are more anxious than ever before” as such: an increasing loss of a sense of community, an intolerant attitude toward negative feelings and the current surge of daily information we consume.

Clark argues that direct human contact is the most useful for calming anxiety, but when families spread across the continent and youngsters turn more toward texting than face-to-face talking, an individual can feel alone.

And instead of dealing with feelings of stress and anxiety in a proactive and head-on manner, our society has a tendency to mask away “bad” feelings with booze, pills or the boob tube.

I’m not suggesting we live next door to our extended family to feel more connected.

And social networking sites (despite being a little superficial) are certainly one way to  keep in touch with people.

But Clark does seem to be pointing in the right direction. These trends have undeniably impacted our society.

We don’t need to condemn television outright, and I certainly respect that prescription medication is, at times, the single best option for an individual’s suffering, though it would be a good idea for us to start being more aware of the sources of our worried minds.

Clark’s last point emphasizes the media’s role in American anxiety. Newspapers today contain “more raw information” than ever before, and our brains may not have been designed to handle the information surplus, according to some neuroscientists.

Even the way the news is presented has a fearful undertone, and as worry expert Evelyn Behar from the University of Illinois-Chicago puts it, “We live in a culture where fear is used to motivate us.”

I absolutely agree. Just minutes after reading Clark’s article online, an advertisement for life insurance popped up on my computer.

The text “If you died today, who would take care of your family?” was placed above a sepia-toned picture of a young woman weeping at a small gravestone inscribed “Father.”

Some might view this tactic as a practical warning, but I’m unimpressed.

It’s a creepy ad and not even very effective. I can’t remember the insurance company’s name, just the fact that they’re playing up on a universal fear factor.

If we’re going to keep our sanity, we ought to encourage positive attitudes and perspective.

More real-life, substantial interactions with friends and family, fewer jumps into escapist coping techniques and a clear-headed approach to what the media feeds us are our best tools for reconciling our anxiety.

Worrying isn’t some ferocious enemy. It’s just bad habit, so let’s kick it and enjoy the world.


E-mail: paihenry@indiana.edu