"Age of Anxiety" - CBC's Doc Zone

"Age of Anxiety", is a very interesting and compelling documentary that raises many questions and concerns. I could hardly believe what I was hearing for the most part, it's just so crazy that we live in a world where almost everyone can be diagnosed with some kind of disorder. There are 12 year old children behaving like 42 year old adults which is just astounding to me. This documentary was done very nicely, I really liked the interviews with various authors and doctors such as, author Patricia Pearson and Psychiatrist, Daniel Carlat. There were also many interesting visuals such as statistics and busy streets overwhelmed with hundreds of busy people. The documentary goes on to bring up the interesting point that anxiety is not all bad, which seems a little odd as thousands of people perceive anxiety as a negative thing. For example, if you look at someone's fear and anxiety to fly, and give them a reason to do it, such as seeing a close friend, the desire to see this friend is enough for them to look past the anxiety and become alright with flying. This proves that people will do something unbelievable or scary when the motivation is strong enough.

 There were also a few things in this documentary that I found very intriguing such as how so many people are afraid of the world and anxious because life is dangerous, and people fear things like losing a job or getting sick, even crime and terrorism contribute. For that, I believe we can blame the media for shoving all these things down our throats. But at some point we have to draw the line, how can a child be treated with anxiety? It's ridiculous that it's come to such an extreme. A good point that was brought up was, if you've got a problem that can be solved with a new boyfriend/girlfriend or even a cheque for a million dollars, then you probably don't have a disorder at all. I very much believe in that. I think that people these days are so caught up in their lives that they back themselves up into a corner and make themselves believe that there's no way out, that they must have some sort of disorder. Almost as if they just need something or someone to blame for all of their misfortune. All in all, I enjoyed this documentary very much and am now much more interested in this topic of anxiety in today's world.

For more information on anxiety and how it can be treated, visit Anxiety Disorders Association of Canada (ADAC)