How Many People Have Anxiety

How Many People Have Anxiety in the U.S? (2024 Statistics)

Published on: November 24, 2022
Last Updated: November 24, 2022

How Many People Have Anxiety in the U.S? (2024 Statistics)

Published on: November 24, 2022
Last Updated: November 24, 2022

Quick Answer 🔍

How many people have anxiety in the U.S. in 2024?

Over 40 million people suffer from anxiety in the United States.

Every one of us has felt the dread of anxiety at some point.

For instance, if we’re nervous about giving a presentation in the presence of a group, that fear can encourage us to study and perfect our delivery.

Anxiety is typical when driving in heavy traffic, but this helps us stay vigilant and avoid collisions. 

On the other hand, anxiety disorders are to blame when persistent worry and dread get in the way of normal functioning.

In the U. S., anxiety disorders constitute the single largest demographic of people who have mental illnesses. 

Almost 20% of American adults, or over 40 million people, suffer from anxiety.

The number of kids aged 3 to 17 who suffer from anxiety yearly is around 7%. The average age at which people start showing symptoms is 21.

How Many People Have Anxiety in the United States in 2024?

Anxiety disorders had a frequency of 19.1 percent among adults in the USA within the past year.

This means that 19.1 percent of adults in the U.S. experienced an anxiety disorder at some point in the past year.

However, the National Institute of Mental Health reports that the lifetime prevalence is even greater, at 31.1%. (NIMH).

The occurrence of anxiety disorders, according to the NIMH, changes with age. Among adults, 22.3% of those ages 18–29 and 22.7% of those ages 30–44 suffer from an anxiety disorder.

The percentage of people experiencing an anxiety condition decreases to 20.6% between the ages of 45 and 59. 

Approximately 9 percent of those aged 60 and up suffer from anxiety. Teens often suffer from anxiety issues.

The higher incidence of anxiety disorders in adolescents varies considerably depending on their chronological age.

  • Age 13–14: 31.4 %
  • Age 15–16: 32.1 %
  • Age 17–18: 32.3 %

Anxiety Disorders In Men Vs. Women

Anxiety

The demographics of anxiety reveal the sex and ethnicity of those more prone to suffer from this condition.

Gender differences in the prevalence of anxiety disorders show that women are more likely to suffer from them than males.

National Institute of Mental Health data shows that anxiety disorders affected 23.4% of women and 14.3% of men in the previous year.

Why Is Anxiety So Common?

No one appears to know for sure why anxiety is so commonplace.

However, many think that social media, lack of sleep, lessened stigma, and misreporting in the past have contributed to the rise in anxiety disorders.

In fact, at 6.64 percent, the U.S. has one of the largest increases of worry among developed nations.

It’s not shocking that many mental health professionals attribute rising anxiety rates among young adults to the proliferation of the internet and, more specifically, social media.

Most people believe that using social media has a detrimental influence on their psychological well-being.

Social media’s ironic effect of making individuals feel lonely and the pressure to compare one’s life to that of others are the main causes of anxiety.

In addition, the dopamine boost from social media is just as addicting as that from illegal substances.

Anxiety and the millennial generation appear to be linked at this stage. Artificial lights and poor sleeping habits both rose alongside the development of technology.

Your body’s generation of melatonin, the sleep hormone, might be negatively impacted twice as much by the blue light wavelengths from your smartphone or computer late at night as by regular artificial light.  

It’s possible that turning off electronics could help millennials deal with their stress.

Comparison of Anxiety Symptoms by Gender

Among American citizens, these are the most common:

  • Anxiety disorders occur more frequently in women than in men. Among adults, 23% of women and 14% of men suffer from anxiety. (NIMH, 2017)
  • As a result, female teens are more likely than teenagers to suffer from anxiety (aged 13 to 18). Between 2001 and 2004, 38% of adolescent girls and 26.1% of boys were diagnosed with anxiety. 
  • Women are double as prone to develop generalized anxiety as males. (ADAA, 2020)
  • The proportion of OCD in women and men is equal, impacting 2.2 million individuals. (ADAA, 2020)

Age-Related Prevalence of Anxiety

Anxiety

Among American citizens, these are the most common:

  • Between 2001 and 2004, anxiety disorders affect approximately one-third (31.9%) of teenagers (ages 13-18). Adolescents between the ages of 17 and 18 made up the largest percentage of those afflicted. “(Archives of General Psychiatry, 2005)”
  • People aged 26–49 experience a generalized anxiety disorder at a rate two times higher than those aged 50 and up. “(SAMHSA, 2014)
  • In 2017, those between the ages of 30 and 44 had the highest prevalence of anxiety disorders, followed by those between the ages of 18 and 29 (22.3%) and those between the ages of 45 and 59 (20.6%). (NIMH, 2017)

Among age groups, those 60 and up experienced the fewest adverse effects in 2017. (NIMH, 2017)

Final Thoughts

In this article, we have answered how many people have anxiety.

It is not uncommon for anxiety disorders to co-occur with or exacerbate other mental health issues.

The majority of individuals who suffer from an anxiety problem can be helped by expert treatment. 

Therapies, medications, complementary and alternative medicine, and even transcranial magnetic stimulation have all been shown to be useful.

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Written by Kelly Indah

I’m a statistics researcher here at EarthWeb with a special interest in privacy, tech, diversity, equality and human rights. I have a master’s degree in Computer Science and I have my Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification.