| Anxiety disorders are a mental problem as old as | | | | form, is it any wonder that employees tend to |
| civilization, though there are numerous | | | | develop anxiety disorders over time? |
| unconfirmed reports that more people are having | | | | Reason #2: Ignorance |
| problems with anxiety and phobias now than ever. | | | | This one requires a bit of explanation. There is a |
| While these reports lack concrete evidence to | | | | general tendency for citizens of one country to |
| back their claims up, there are several mental | | | | be completely and utterly ignorant of the culture, |
| health issues that need to be considered here. | | | | customs, and mores of another culture. This is |
| Modern society, with all the concerns over ethics, | | | | true even if the other culture is basically the |
| morality, propriety, and social rules can have a | | | | country next door. This inevitably leads to people |
| rather unpleasant effect on the mind. | | | | feeling a collective fear and anxiety when |
| While not all minds fall apart from the pressures | | | | exposed to those foreign cultures, all the while |
| and demands placed by living in a "civilized" world, | | | | being completely unaware of how much fear and |
| there are some scenarios and elements that | | | | anxiety their own culture causes people in other |
| make people feel as if they're dangerously close | | | | countries. This ignorance, along with the fear and |
| to that precarious edge. Again, there is currently | | | | anxiety that follows, can result in any number of |
| no real, hard evidence to back the following claims | | | | negative backlashes. Even ignorance of the quirks |
| up, but the sheer amount of anecdotal evidence is | | | | and habits of one's neighbor can result in |
| able to spark more than just a passing concern. | | | | irreversible harm being done to one's family, |
| The fact is, a lot of people feel that modern | | | | friends, or even one's community. How do you |
| civilization has produced more fear and anxiety in | | | | think the Salem Witch Trials started in the first |
| its own citizens than any civilization before it, and | | | | place? Anxiety and phobias directed towards the |
| below are a few of the most commonly cited | | | | vulnerable and unwanted members of the |
| reasons for this view. | | | | community, mixed in with a healthy dose of good |
| Reason #1: Bureaucracy | | | | old-fashioned religious fascism. |
| As things get larger and more complex, the more | | | | Reason #3: The Media |
| difficult it becomes to connect the dots between | | | | The media, more than any other factor in the |
| one part and another. This is true for the | | | | modern world, is the source of countless social |
| ecologies of large natural environments, where | | | | problems. From telling people that "greed is good" |
| even the most hardened ecologists have difficulty | | | | back in the early 80s to pushing the idea that |
| putting together all the links in the chain. This is | | | | being bigger than a size zero means you're fat, |
| also true for the modern environment, where | | | | the media has long exerted a degree of control |
| each department is set up to be an independent | | | | over people that is far from healthy. Several |
| authority over its specific task, yet is inevitably | | | | cases of performance anxiety, status anxiety, |
| linked to each other department in ways that | | | | and even social anxiety can be traced back to a |
| nobody but the people in charge really seems to | | | | fictional character or the media portrayal of a |
| actually understand. People can sometimes | | | | famous personality. In a few rare cases, the |
| develop massive amounts of stress and anxiety | | | | media can even push a person to feel separation |
| when dealing with bureaucracy, whether it is in | | | | anxiety, generally in the form of an extreme |
| the places where they work or in the institutions | | | | unwillingness to let go of the "legacy" of some |
| around them. With this sort of framework | | | | dead celebrity, such as Elvis or Princess Diana. |
| present in pretty much every company in some | | | | |