Precarious jobs, inequality and unaffordable housing: no wonder we are all so worried. But what if the answer is to drop out a little?
The anxiety industry is having one hell of a moment. Barnes & Noble recently announced that US sales of books related to anxiety are up more than 25% from a year ago, leading the retailer to hypothesise that “[Americans] may be living in an anxious nation”. Ya think?
It’s not just anti-anxiety books flying off the shelves. There has also been a substantial increase in demand for depression and anxiety medications in recent years – on both sides of the Atlantic. According to Zion Market Research, the “general anxiety disorder market” is undergoing rapid growth and is expected to generate revenue of $3.7bn by the end of 2020 in the US. Meanwhile, the UK has become the world’s second-largest market, after the US, of illegal online sales of the anti-anxiety medication Xanax.
Continue reading...from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2OQJtx9
