Recession Anxiety Escalates

Due to the recession, anxiety, depression, sleep disorders and other stress related conditions are on the rise. A New York Times story has some stats and several good personal stories about how the recession is affecting people’s mental health as worry about the economy grows.

Recession Anxiety Seeps Into Everyday Lives

“It is early to measure the recession’s consequences, but surveys suggest a growing impact. In an American Psychological Association poll in September, 80 percent reported the economy’s causing significant stress, up from 66 percent last April. The National Sleep Foundation said 27 percent of people surveyed last fall had sleeplessness because of economic anxiety.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline calls jumped to 50,158 in January 2009 from 39,465 a month in January 2008, and economic stress more frequently “played a central role,” said Richard McKeon, the group’s federal project officer.”

I agree with an anonymous commenter at the Psychology Today blog.

“My prescription for these anxieties… Turn off the news, and go play with your kids, pets, friends, etc. Articles like this add to the chaos. There was very little on how to manage stress in this article. I felt like this article was extremely sensational as is the case with the majority of articles and media reports. The fact that many cases sited were people who were not directly related, they still had a job, they were living in an area that was still doing well, they still had their savings, they had family to rely on, etc., yet they were incapacitated at times due to anxiety, proves my point. The best thing for our mental health right now, would be to turn off the sensationalizing media!!!”