III. Anxiety statistics: Who gets anxiety or anxiety disorders? What are the risk factors that can lead to anxiety disorders? What are the effects? What do studies show?

• Social Phobia = 2.5%
• Phobia = 4.9%
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder = 6.2%
• Panic Disorder = 1.2%
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder = 2.1%
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder = 1.3%
• Other Anxiety Disorders = 16.6%

The findings also suggest that the ratio of anxiety disorders can vary considerably from one country to another, depending on the social make-up and environment among its population:

• In Hong Kong, GAD is the most widely-diagnosed anxiety at 9.5%, compared to 2.1% for Phobias [13], 0.28 for Panic Disorder and 1% for OCD.
• In Taiwan, GAD occurs in 8.6% of residents in cities, compared to 6.4% in smaller towns [21].
• In Korea, GAD is estimated at 3.6% [19], compared to 5.4% for Social Phobia.
• In the U.S., Anxiety Disorders are the most common emotional problem, affecting the population at a higher level than the rest of the world (18.1%) [2].

Of the different anxiety problems, Social Anxiety Disorder is one of the most common, and is a factor that can lead to future depression and substance abuse [13]. Having one anxiety disorder also increases the risk of developing other anxiety disorders [3, 6, 18].

Anxiety Disorders vary even amongst gender and age:

• Females are more likely to be affected by anxiety than males [3, 15, 19].
• Females are more likely to develop Panic Disorder and Social Phobias than males [3, 4].
• Males experience certain disorders earlier than females；the average age for OCD to start is between 6-20 in males and 20-29 in females.
• Younger people are more likely to have OCD
• In Hong Kong, Panic Disorder is at 0.34% and GAD at 11.1% in women, compared to only 0.2% for Panic Disorder and 7.8% for GAD in men [21]. This pattern of anxiety disorders is also found in Korea and Taiwan [21].

Findings suggest that adolescents who need help with anxiety show a greater need for treatment as adults[18]. Anxiety disorders can develop over time, but can also be reduced over time. Other factors which can increase the risk of anxiety problems, based on studies on American youths and the Swedish population, are:

• The quality of peers and the neighbourhood can affect the urban youths’chances of developing anxiety in adulthood [12].
• High-stressed areas and highly stressed people can generate more stress.
• Interaction with family members.
• People with one or more parents diagnosed with anxiety are significantly more likely to have anxiety themselves
• Having both parents with anxiety increased the risk even more.
• The risk for children is higher with a mother with anxiety than a father with anxiety.

Other studies involving the family unit have found that people who show signs of behavioural inhibition - regular avoidance of unfamiliar people, events, and situations, tend to develop social phobias and other anxiety disorders in adolescence and adulthood [11].

Insomnia has been highly associated with the onset of an anxiety disorder [14], but anxiety disorders have also been highly associated with the onset of insomnia, whether it is a current or past anxiety disorder [16]. People with a history of insomnia often go on to develop anxiety disorders, as shown in an eleven-year follow-up study of people with chronic insomnia [15].

Since limited data is available on Asians, comparison studies of Asian-Americans and other different cultural groups can show the different responses to anxiety. Among Asian-Americans and other ethnic groups in the U.S., Asian Americans showed significantly lower levels of anxiety and mood disorders when compared to Whites, Blacks or Native Americans. On the other hand, Asian-Americans with an anxiety disorder showed a significantly greater likelihood of alcohol dependency. Alcohol abuse unfortunately is also closely associated with Social Phobia [17].