Pharmacophobia means dawai se darr, a fear of medicine. Indians are proven to skip or stop medicine when we are in doubt. Negative beliefs make us much less likely to complete the full course and take the anxiety medicine as we are told. This usually comes from a place of darr - “Dawai suit nahi hui toh?”

Anxiety has has always existed. It may seem like a young-people problem, but it’s simply that anxiety changes with age. In some ways, it becomes silent, and in some it becomes louder.   We’ve just overlooked anxiety for many years, making it difficult to recognise how anxiety presents in older people.

Medical adherence is a big problem in India. Family duties, work ka pressure, bachchon ka rona, upcoming deadlines, subah subah bhag-daud - it’s so easy not to take your medicines. 40-50% of the psychiatric patients in India do not take their anxiety medicines properly.

82.9% of people with anxiety disorders in India are untreated. So therapy ko trust na karna is common, and it has its reasons.  Why do we not trust therapy?: big treatment gaps, confusing/ unexplained titles - kaun kya karta hain, psychologist aur psychiatrist mein kya difference hain, kis type ki therapy mein kya hota hain, yeh CBT versus ACT versus DBT kya hain?

Anxiety can feel like it’s ‘all in your head’, but it is a constant brain-body loop. It’s true, however, that anxiety is rooted in the brain - specifically in the region of the brain that is called the limbic system and other networks connected to it.

Anxiety seems like a very foreign concept to most people in our country, literally and figuratively. But anxiety is not an imported problem.

Chinta ya Chinta Vikar, Anxiety or Anxiety Disorders, what does it mean? Anxiety/ ghabaraahat toh hum sabko hoti hai, whether it’s for a big exam, important interview, job stuff, kid stuff or a wedding. But does that mean we all have anxiety disorder?