The Causes of Anxiety Among the Youth Population in the United States

The aim of this literature is to discuss causes of anxiety among the youth population in the United States and the different treatment options that are effective in causing recovery from anxiety disorders. In order to accomplish this research, the National Guard Health Services was used to search for the four key terms anxiety, youth, United States and treatment by use of the PubMed database. Nine articles were identified from the four key search terms. The following is a brief summary of relevant information obtained from those articles.

            Anxiety is a disorder characterized of emotional instability, negative perspective of the future and distress that causes agitation and sleep problems (Alfano et al. 159). Anxiety can be a normal reaction during day-to-day stressful conditions but extreme anxiety can progress into a pathological condition whereby the victim displays dysfunctional responsiveness towards sources of anxiety (Watts and Carl 840). Anxiety symptoms present themselves in the following disorders; panic disorder, agoraphobia, obsessive compulsive disorder, general anxiety disorder, social phobia and posttraumatic stress disorder. Young adults fall victims of anxiety disorder because of facing transition periods and crucial development that live them in a confused state. The causes of anxiety among the youth are constantly overlooked, which makes them more susceptible due to psychological, physical and cognitive changes (Pottick et al. 377).

            According to studies, the rate of anxiety among youth in the USA is 5-19% and only 23.8% of the population receives psychological and psychiatric treatment (Mendelson et al. 990). Agoraphobia is the main condition that causes anxiety and mental incapacitation because it minimizes autonomy and mobility thus leading to isolation.

            Anxiety disorder is highly prevalent among the white American youth who have a prevalence rate of 8.5% followed by Latino Americans with 5.8%, African Americans with 4.9% and lastly Asian Americans with 2.4% (Breslau et al. 62). The youths who often utilize alcohol and tobacco have a higher risk of anxiety disorder than those who do not (O’Connell, Thomas and Kenneth 43). The main cause of anxiety among the youth in USA is low socioeconomic status; therefore mental disorders are greatly linked to social vulnerabilities such as unemployment, low educational achievement, low finances and poor housing (Gwadz et al. 123).

            Several young adults seek psychotherapy because of the effects of anxiety such as phobia and panic attacks that affect normal body functions, however many of them seek help in order to avoid anxiety rather than to be able to deal with the disorder. Existential-humanistic therapy is an intervention strategy that helps victims to overcome inhibitions caused by fear and anxiety through self-care methods that enhance healing (Mendelson et al. 993). Cognitive techniques are applied to desensitize the patient such that a threat which causes anxiety is not viewed as a major event as originally predicted. Moreover, psychodynamic techniques apply interpretations to broaden the patient’s comprehension and avoid anxiety-provoking thoughts, feelings or wishes by channeling the unconscious into the conscious to understand the source of anxiety. Youth patients who experience anxiety caused by trauma are taken through anxiety and stress management interventions that incorporate activities such as relaxation exercises, basic exercises, positive imagery and decreased caffeine intake (Grant et al. 811).

            The main limitation to anxiety treatment among the youth is that many of them only seek medical care when facing physical conditions while neglecting mental-related health issues (Olsson and Mary 294). Clinical intervention strategies need to incorporate detection as well as preventive measures into health care routines in order to address mental conditions that cause isolation, which prevents young victims from seeking assistance.

Works Cited

Alfano, Candice A., et al. "Pre-sleep arousal and sleep problems of anxiety-disordered youth."

            Child Psychiatry & Human Development 41.2 (2010): 156-167.

Breslau, Joshua, et al. "Specifying race-ethnic differences in risk for psychiatric disorder in a

            USA national sample."Psychological medicine 36.1 (2006): 57-68.

Grant, Bridget F., et al. "Prevalence and co-occurrence of substance use disorders and

Independent mood and anxiety disorders: Results from the national epidemiologic survey on alcohol and related conditions."Archives of general psychiatry

61.8 (2004): 807-816.

Gwadz, Marya Viorst, et al. "Gender differences in traumatic events and rates of post-traumatic

            stress disorder among homeless youth."Journal of Adolescence 30.1 (2007): 117-129.

Mendelson, Tamar, et al. "Feasibility and preliminary outcomes of a school-based mindfulness

intervention for urban youth."Journal of abnormal child psychology 38.7 (2010): 985-994.

O’Connell, Mary Ellen, Thomas Boat, and Kenneth E. Warner. "Committee on the Prevention of

Mental Disorders and Substance Abuse Among Children, Youth, and Young Adults: Research Advances and Promising Interventions."(2009).

Olsson, Dudley P., and May G. Kennedy. "Mental health literacy among young people in a small

US town: recognition of disorders and hypothetical helping responses."Early Intervention in Psychiatry 4.4 (2010): 291-298.

Pottick, Kathleen J., et al. "US patterns of mental health service utilization for transition-age

youth and young adults."The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research 35.4 (2008): 373-389.

Watts, Sarah E., and Carl F. Weems. "Associations among selective attention, memory bias,

cognitive errors and symptoms of anxiety in youth."Journal of abnormal child psychology 34.6 (2006): 838-849.