Happy World Mental Health Day: Anxiety?

Dan Hurley, Newsweek; Jen Bradford (DB Meditation), Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Forget weed, wine, and Xanax: Science has better ways to treat anxiety

Angie Landeros knew her daughter had always been shy. "Very, very shy," she says. "She always felt awkward talking to other kids her age."

• World Mental Health Day marked by Venus Williams, celebs

Then came the COVID-19 lockdowns in March, 2020. Ten years old, Landeros' daughter began feeling unbearably self-conscious seeing herself on the computer screen during Zoom lessons.

When her elementary school went to a hybrid format that required most kids to attend in person, some days she'd refuse to go. Once she had a full-blown panic attack in the car and began kicking and screaming.

On another day, says Landeros, "she literally ran out the door to hide from us."

Landeros and her husband, Michael Bloch, are psychiatrists at the Yale Child Study Center, so they knew what their daughter was going through: social anxiety disorder.

She wasn't the only one. According to a national survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, adults reporting symptoms of anxiety and depression on a near-daily basis jumped to 41 percent in 2021, from 11 percent in 2019. (It dropped to 32 percent in 2022, still nearly triple the pre-pandemic level),

Nearly eight in 10 adults said COVID-19 was causing significant stress in their lives, according to a survey by the American Psychological Association (APA). The pandemic is only one of many anxiety-provoking... More