Anxiety is gripping the nation: An estimated 23.4% of females and 14.3% of males had an anxiety disorder in the past year. In addition, it's estimated that generalized anxiety disorder affects 8.5% to 10.5% of women during pregnancy and 4.4% to 10.8% during the postpartum period. 

That's why the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has issued a recommendation that all adults ages 19 to 64 should be routinely screened for anxiety.

Older folks shoulder be screened on a case-by-case basis, because available research doesn’t show how the risks and benefits play out.

It’s important to treat anxiety because the condition can make it hard to establish relationships and to perform one's job well. It can also lead to other health problems as a result of self-medicating with food, drink and drugs, or because it causes neglect of other conditions.

For example, new data from more than 12,000 patients presented at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology, EULAR 2023, show that people with anxiety are less likely to do a good job of managing their rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, or axial spondyloarthritis.

And in my opinion, anxiety can also interfere with preventing and/or caring for cardiovascular problems, diabetes, and other chronic conditions.

To discover how to ease anxiety — and take better care of your other health concerns — check out the stress management, nutritional advice, and physical activity programs at LongevityPlaybook.com, and talk to your doctor about seeing someone who specializes in treating anxiety.