Anxiety: Prevalence, Impact, and Coping Strategies

Coping Strategies
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Coping Strategies
Introduction
In 2020, the world came to a standstill when the coronavirus pandemic struck and held the entire world hostage for more than a year. Industries shut down, and people retreated to their homes, with the world’s economy suffering major losses at the time. Questions started to arise over what would happen next and whether the world would be able to bypass the virus for normalcy to resume. The uncertainty emanating from the spread of the virus intensified the anxiety levels of the world as more people became increasingly stressed and worried about their futures and families. Stress levels increased globally, and it became prudent to discuss some remedies for the stress-related problems the world witnessed. Stress is a prelude to major mental and physiological problems, and the world saw an increase in these problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, even as these issues increase in prevalence, there are numerous coping strategies that are relevant and efficient in helping combat stress and stress-related problems. According to Blum, Brow, & Silver (2012), coping strategies are as varied as the stressors and span different approaches, including avoidance, confronting a stressor, the use of humor, investment into religion, venting emotions, reinterpretation of stressor as positive, and careful planning to combat the stressor among others. These strategies can be applied in different scenarios and cases. However, there is a need to match a stress-related problem to a coping strategy that would yield the best results. For this particular paper, the anxiety disorder as a stress-related problem will be assessed against the effectiveness of behavior modification and cognitive restructuring as appropriate coping strategies.
Stress-Related Problem - Anxiety
Anxiety is one of the most prevalent stress-related problems in the world. According to the COVID-19 Mental Disorders Collaborators (2021), mental disorders have been a leading cause of the current health burden in the world. Further, the researchers indicate that anxiety and depressive disorders play a leading role in contributing to the depleting healthcare condition in the world (COVID-19 Mental Disorders Collaborators, 2021). Currently, there are multiple stress factors that continue to enhance the prevalence of anxiety disorders in the world. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the stress factors increased to include the inability to work, engage socially, meet loved ones, and the increased fear of infection and death. Therefore, a surge of anxiety disorders was experienced worldwide, with adults said to be the most affected. In their report, Vahratian et al. (2021) reveal that symptoms of anxiety disorder in adults increased from 36.4% to 41.5%, with adults between the ages of 18 and 29 being the most impacted. In the U.S., adults aged 18 to 39 were highly affected and were reported to post an increase in mental healthcare treatment, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. With their future threatened, this group was heavily hit, and many experienced increased symptoms of anxiety disorder.
The impact of anxiety disorders in the world is widespread. Anxiety greatly impacts a person&...