In 18 years of practice and 12 years of graduate-level teaching, no diagnosis has so consistently ravaged the lives of my clients like anxiety. I despise anxiety. It has hurt my family, friends, students, church family, neighbors, clients, and myself. If anxiety were a political party, I would vote it out. If it were a mailman, I would tell my dog to bite it, and if it were a plague, I would quarantine it.
Anxiety is a plague. In 2002–2003, 19.1% of adults reported having an anxiety disorder within the last year (National Institute of Mental Health, 2023). Percentages of reported anxiety and depression peaked in 2021 at 39.3% and then leveled off at 31.5% in 2022 and 32.3% in 2023 (Panchal et al., 2023). During those years, it seemed that nearly every client who walked through my door was either anxious, lonely, or both.
Clients were starved for community following government shutdowns. They exhibited symptoms of anxiety and depression and often attempted to self-medicate through marijuana, alcohol, and pornography. Beyond standard diagnostic symptoms, many struggled with a deeper sense of meaninglessness. Their jobs, relationships, memberships, roles, and even the way they shopped had changed. They were desperate for consistency, purpose, and some sense of normalcy.
What I observed was not simply fear or nervousness. It was disorientation. Anxiety flourishes when continuity is disrupted, when the rhythms that anchor us are removed, and when meaning becomes abstract rather than embodied. When people lose shared practices, shared spaces, and shared narratives, anxiety fills the vacuum.
Anxiety is not merely psychological. It is relational, cultural, and spiritual. It grows when individuals are cut off from stable communities, predictable rhythms, and transcendent purpose. The modern world excels at disruption and distraction, and it should not surprise us that anxiety has followed in its wake.
At first, this plague felt like something I treated in others. Eventually, it came for me.
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Christ-centered counseling doesn’t stand on shifting cultural trends or personal philosophies—it stands on God’s unchanging Word. Scripture is not just a source of encouragement; it is truth, wisdom, and light in the darkness (Psalm 119:105).
Counsel guided by the Bible offers something the world cannot: the voice of the Good Shepherd, speaking directly to the heart. Contact us today to connect with a compassionate therapist near you or a licensed therapist in Michigan who can walk alongside you.
