1 Anxiety Epidemic: Are we importing anxiety into our mind and life?

Anxiety Epidemic Nearly one in five million American adults - - suffer from anxiety disorders, the most common class of psychiatric ailment we have. By comparison, a mere one in ten are plagued with mood disorders like depression, the second most-common class of psychiatric problems. - Daniel Smith, author of the new anxiety memoir Monkey Mind

USA – World Anxiety Champion "According to the 2002 World Mental Health Survey, people in developing-world countries such as Nigeria are up to five times less likely to show clinically significant anxiety levels than Americans, despite having more basic life-necessities to worry about… What's more, when these less-anxious developing- world citizens emigrate to the United States, they tend to get just as anxious as Americans.” - Taylor Clark, author of Nerve

Is anxiety caused by the state of the economy? No! Even when the economy were in great shape, as it was in 2004, Americans spent $2.1 billion on anti-anxiety meds, almost double the amount spent in 1997

Anxiety is the consequence of materialism cintam aparimeyam ca pralayantam upashritah kamopabhoga-parama etavad iti nishcitah “They believe that to gratify the senses is the prime necessity of human civilization. Thus until the end of life their anxiety is immeasurable. ” (Bhagavad-gita 16.11)

The Anxiety of Choice Stanford psychology professor Hazel Markus asked Indian and American participants to report how many choices they'd made while doing a series of small tasks. "Though everybody made the same series of decisions" -- choosing a desk to sit at, choosing a pad to use, choosing whether or not to eat free candy, …

The Anxiety of Choice …"Americans thought that they'd made twice as many choices as the Indians, 20 compared to 10. Too much choice can paralyze people and make them anxious.”

The Anxiety of Choice aneka-citta-vibhranta moha-jala-samavritah Thus [they become] perplexed by various anxieties and bound by a network of illusions. (Bhagavad-gita 16.16)

The Anxiety of Fashion and Status "Anything about a decision that... [is] less than perfect is a rebuke to the decision maker,“ - Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less.

The Anxiety of Fashion and Status "For Chinese (and other Asians), sense of self and self-worth are not tied up so much with notions of individual autonomy and choice. So a bad pair of jeans is just a bad pair of jeans. In the U.S., it's a bad pair of jeans AND a statement about you. Think how much weightier your decisions are if every one you make tells the world something about who you are.“ - Barry Schwartz

The Anxiety of Status ishvaro 'ham aham bhogi siddho 'ham balavan sukhi adhyo 'bhijanavan asmi ko 'nyo 'sti sadrisho maya I am the lord of everything. I am the enjoyer. I am perfect, powerful and happy. I am the richest man, surrounded by aristocratic relatives. There is none so powerful and happy as I am. (Bhagavad-gita )

Let’s stop feeding anxiety - 1 W - Work W - Watch S - Shop Let’s stop being a part of World Wide Stupidity

Let’s stop feeding anxiety - II Are we seeking these in materialism? I – Identity S – Shelter P – Pleasure Understand ISP: I (am a) Spiritual Person

Let’s stop feeding anxiety When we decrease our materialism and don’t bother unduly about superficialities like fashion & status, we cut off the channel that feeds anxiety

Be intense, not tense - I When we decrease our materialism and don’t bother unduly about superficialities like fashion & status, we cut off the channel that feeds anxiety

Be intense, not tense - II When we connect with Krishna who is the eternally unchanging and unchangeable shelter, we find a refuge of serenity in a storm of anxiety.