Stress. Facts

Stress is a feeling that’s created when we react to particular events. It refers to the consequence of the failure of an organism  to respond appropriately to emotional  or physical threats, whether actual or imagined.

75% of the general population experiences at least “some stress” every two weeks.

Studies show that HIV-infected men are more likely to progress to AIDS if they are under high stress than those with lower levels of stress.

A good belly laugh shuts off the flow of stress hormones which is triggered by our biological “fight or flight” response when we feel stress, anger or hostility.

An estimated 1 million workers are absent on an average workday because of stress related complaints.

Stress contributes to heart disease, high blood pressure, strokes, and other illnesses in many individuals.

Life today is on average 44% more difficult than 30 years ago based on the number of significant life changes  encountered

Up to 90% of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress-related complaints.

Up to 80% of industrial accidents are due to stress.

In 2009, the top most stressful jobs were a surgeon, commercial airline pilot, photojournalist, advertising account executive, and real estate agent. The least stressful jobs were actuary, dietitian, astronomer, systems analyst, and software engineer.

73 percent of Americans name money as the number one factor that affects their stress level.

Stress creates hormonal changes in the human body that can decrease libido and sex response.

When cells shrink due to exposure to stress hormones, they disconnect from each other, which contributes to depression.

While it is a myth that stress can turn your hair gray, stress can cause hair loss.

Stress also contributes to the development of alcoholism, obesity, suicide, drug addiction, cigarette addiction, and other harmful behaviors.

Up to 5 million people in the UK are ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ stressed through work.

Nearly three-quarters of American workers experience frequent stress-related physical or mental conditions that greatly increase health care costs.

Anxiety. Statistics

Anxiety disorders are conditions that cause a person to feel anxious or distressed for no logical reason.

Many people have more than one anxiety disorder, and anxiety disorders frequently co-occur with depressive disorders, eating disorders, or substance abuse.

Anxiety disorders include:

• Panic disorder
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Generalized anxiety disorder
• Phobias (social phobia, agoraphobia, and specific phobias).

Anxiety disorders affect approximately 1 in 4 people worldwide at some point in their lives.

The exact cause of most anxiety disorders is unknown, but they most likely stem from a combination of psychological,  biological, genetic and environmental factors.

Most anxiety disorders begin in childhood, adolescence or early adulthood.

Medications used to treat anxiety disorders include anti-anxiety medications, antidepressants (many of which are also approved to treat anxiety) and beta blockers (medications usually used for heart conditions).

Anxiety Disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S. with 19.1 million (13.3%) of the adult U.S. population (ages 18-54) affected.

Only 4 million in U.S. will receive treatment, and of those, only 400,000 will receive proper treatment.

65% of North Americans take prescription medications daily, 43% take mood altering prescriptions regularly.

People with an anxiety disorder are three-to-five times more likely to go to the doctor and six times more likely to be hospitalized for psychiatric disorders than non-sufferers.

Women are twice as likely to be afflicted than men by generalized anxiety disorder.

Most cases of anxiety disorders that do not respond to one form of treatment will respond to another.

Alcohol is commonly used to cope with anxiety. 72% of Canadians consume alcohol each year.

Approximately 19.2 million American adults age 18 and over have some type of specific phobia.

Anxiety sufferers see an average of five doctors before being successfully diagnosed.

Anxiety disorders account for one-third of the total mental-health bill in the United States.