Nearly 20 percent of the population suffers from an anxiety disorder, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or social phobia. While there are serious concerns about diagnostic inflation—that is, the expanding definition of behaviors that may not actually reflect a mental illness—some researchers argue that the rise in these disorders is more than just psychiatric overreach.
Therefore, treating true clinical anxiety disorders takes a trained mental health professional. But the more mild anxiety that most of us may feel throughout any given day (passing a test, asking someone out on a date, and so on) may be manageable with a better understanding of how anxiety works. Once you wrap your head around what makes anxiety tick, it becomes easier to dismantle it and feel more calm and confident in these common, stressful situations.
