Why Are We So Anxious?

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

– Philippians 4:6

I was speaking with a school nurse over the weekend.  She shared that in the past several years the rate of anxiety has skyrocketed in her middle school.  We brainstormed possible reasons why, but in the end we left our conversation sad and worried for our teens.  As soon as I got in my car, I was reminded of Philippians 4:6.  I asked God to help our teens and replace anxiety and depression with peace and joy as only He can do.   

I also decided to look into the matter more closely.  First I wanted to see if my nurse friend and I were in fact correct.  Is anxiety really skyrocketing?  Unfortunately, I found many studies that prove our concerns true.  Here is one.

A 2014 review of 19 studies from 12 countries across Europe, China, the United States and Australia, published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, found that in the majority of countries, teenage boys and girls are experiencing more depression and anxiety than they were a decade ago, and girls have almost double the anxieties and worries as boys.

Why are more teens anxious today than teens in the past?  One explanation could be the link between wanting to be in control of one’s life and suffering from anxiety.  One author stated:

“One theme of anxiety and depression is that people are affected by a profound sense of control or lack of control over their own lives. Even though we have experienced great advancement over diseases, social injustices and a significant increase in personal wealth and accumulation, data points to the fact that today’s young people feel like they have little control over their own fate than those of past decades.”

Think back to WWII, did those teens feel in control?  Of course not.  What’s changed in the past 50 plus years?  Here’s my theory...ready?

 

We are no longer a nation raising our children to trust in God.  We are no longer a “Nation Under God.”  We have set aside the Bible and we’re making up our own rules.  And our children are suffering because God made each one of them to be in relationship with Him.  God’s greatest desire, as He states in the Old Testament, is to be our God and for us to be His people.  That right relationship looks like God is in control and we trust in and pray to Him every day with thanksgiving in our hearts.  We present our requests to God and we wait and trust while He works. 

Can you do that?  Give thanks to God, ask Him for what you need, then TRUST instead of clinging for control, increasing your anxiety.  God’s word is timeless!

The Power of Giving God Thanks Will Ignite Your Faith and Change Your World!

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