How Might the Experience of Anxiety Differ Among People of Different Cultures?
The ways in which anxiety disorders are viewed and experienced by people in different countries and cultures can vary for many reasons. For example, while there are many cultures in which it is believed that men are supposed to be brave and not let things get them down, this belief can be even stronger in others. In different places there are different expectations, and if these are not met, a person may be considered to have something wrong with them. The people in some cultures might believe that because the reasons for anxiety are caused by fear, and an individual’s inability to handle matters that they should be able to, it makes them inferior to others.
In places such as the United States, a person’s success and hard work in their life is connected to their self-esteem. How their peers view them in these areas can have a negative impact on their self-esteem and self-efficacy, and lead to anxiety. However, these people may not have a social anxiety problem if they lived in Asia. This type of anxiety tends to be linked to a person’s interpersonal relationships in Asian culture.
Anxiety disorders such as phobias can also vary throughout cultures. For example, many people throughout the world believe that they should have good behavior and a good appearance. But, there are some in Japan who are actually nervous that they might offend others if theirs is not great. Agoraphobia is another, in which people may be frightened of places and situations that might seem uncomfortable; this is more common in the United States than in Europe.
However, the rate of disorders such as agoraphobia could be the same for these two countries, but not reported as much in Europe. Also, the level of anxiety and suffering could be higher in countries where there is not as much medical help available. If there was the opportunity to use things such as this, there might be an improvement in anxiety disorder rates.
