Anxiety Disorder Statistics: Why You Aren’t Alone

There are many anxiety disorder statistics that can help sufferers know they are not alone. The truth is that many people suffer from the same thing you do, and one of the first steps toward taking control of your life again is realizing that there are millions of people out there who know exactly what you are going through – and that you are not crazy. Hopefully, the numbers below can help allay at least one of your fears.

The Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA) reports that these illnesses are the most common mental illnesses in the United States. Over 18 percent of the adult population suffers from one of these disorders, which is nearly one out of five people. So the next time you pass five or six people on the street, you can be pretty certain that one of them is just like you.

Of the 40 million people who suffer from these illnesses, 6.8 million have generalized anxiety disorder, 2.2 million have obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), 6 million have panic disorder, 7.7 million have posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 15 million have social anxiety disorder, and 19 million have a specific phobia.

Women are more likely to suffer from these disorders than men, except for OCD, which is equally likely to affect men and women.

Though the other ailments can stem from one incident, posttraumatic stress disorder is the only one that almost always results from one incident, or a string of similar incidents. We tend to associate PTSD with soldiers coming home from a war, but it also occurs with people who have experienced a personal attack such as a rape or assault, if you have been a victim of a terror attack or natural disaster, or if you have been involved in an accident.

It can be disheartening to learn that people with one of these illnesses are likely to develop another as well, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Also, if you are going to experience these symptoms, on average, they will show up by the time you are 22. This means that if you suffered as a child or adolescent, you were not alone then either.

Statistics show that these are costly illnesses. The ADAA says that billion a year in the U.S. is spent on these disorders, which makes up nearly one-third of the total spent on mental health care. Much of that money undoubtedly goes toward doctor bills because people with these worries are between three and five times more likely to seek out medical care and six times more likely to be hospitalized for a mental disorder than people who don’t suffer from these illnesses.

Suffering from an anxiety disorder can be lonely. It may cause you to retreat from life, and you probably are not likely to talk about these feelings of fear and even insanity with people. But the above statistics prove that you are far from alone. Ask your therapist for a referral to a support group so you can talk to others who know what you are going through.

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