“Yeh Sab Nayi Nayi Bimariyan Hain” 

Anxiety 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, in some it becomes louder.

We’ve just overlooked anxiety for many years, making it difficult to recognise how anxiety presents in older people.

The gap in awareness also has some effects. Young people are constantly exposed to TV shows and social media campaigns about mental health and are quick to look up symptoms and recognise them.

Someone older might be less aware of their anxious feelings, maybe even a little averse to accepting them.

It’s important to know how anxiety presents differently in different age groups so that no one’s anxiety goes unrecognised and untreated.

Baccho ko bolna nahi aata hai ki unko ghabrahat ho rahi hai, unki body aur behaviour hi bolte hai. Which we often mistake for signs of bad behaviour.

Now, this is not to say that your child needs immediate treatment if they present with anxiety. Anxious feelings are common in children, and at-home intervention, care and reassurance usually help quite a lot and even prevent anxiety in further years. However, treatment can always be a good option.

Signs to help you spot child anxiety:

● Difficulty concentrating at school or home
● Avoiding social situations or friends
● Not wanting to sleep alone
● Not wanting to go to school
● Temper tantrums
● Small, consistent physical complaints - stomachs, dizziness, short breath

Kids commonly have separation anxiety from whoever they spend the most time with. Selective mutism or not being able to speak in certain situations, social anxiety, and specific phobias from a particular traumatic incident are also common types of anxiety in this age group.

Kids can experience anxiety because of biological or environmental reasons. Biologically, it can be because of slow brain development. Environmentally, it can be because of high-pressure or unstructured environments that stress the kid out. It can even be because someone close to them has anxiety, which allows them to copy that behaviour.

If childhood anxiety is left untreated, it can extend into adolescence and adulthood, which can further affect education, relationships and health.

“A lot of kids do not choose to come for therapy. It’s their school that sends them. Usually this is because of behavioural issues” -Madhulika Agarwal

Late teenagers and young adults (early 20s) experience anxiety more verbally and emotionally. This age group seems to be the best at recognising and expressing their anxious feelings.

They still face issues with verbalising them to people around them and actively seeking help. This is slowly changing, and I think it’s actually quite lovely that this age group wants to take care of their mental health.

There are concerns with overanalysing symptoms or mislabelling conditions, but the overall effect of awareness is that people want help, and that is always a good thing.

Young adults just have a lot going on. It's important to make sure that anxiety does not get carried forward, that it is not unreasonable or unmanageable.

Anxiety academic ya work stress, social comparison online and offline, identity struggles, relationships aur uncertainty about the future ki wajah se ho saki hai.

In this group, you can see excessive worry, avoidance of social situations, sleeplessness, overthinking, irritability or emotional outbursts, all similar presentations to kids, just more pronounced and easier to recognise.

A unique feature is panic attacks. If these occur too frequently, the person is said to have panic disorder.

Young adults often “act out” and can turn to alcohol or tobacco use to cope with mental illness.

Teenagers and young adults can really benefit from open conversation about mental illness, family and friends' support, and getting the right kind of help.

Next comes the middle-aged group, 40-50 year olds. 40-49-year-olds suffer the most from anxiety in India. It often shows up as more physical symptoms like acidity/gas, pet dard, sar dard, dil dhadakna, nausea, etc. It is often confused with other conditions.

Waise toh your 40s and 50s are supposed to be the comfortable stage of life. Shaadi ho gayi, bacche ho gaye, career set hai. Sab sahi jaa raha hota hai, but phir bhi there’s this weird feeling of bechaini, feeling “on edge” and restless even when you’re resting, and you just don’t know why.

You are sandwiched in between taking care of your ageing parents and your growing kids. Hormonal changes make your body go upar neeche. Your sleep is not as good as it used to be. You have some time to think about past problems. You are at the peak of your career and don’t know where to go next. Women may face anxiety from perimenopause and menopause, often dismissed as “mood swings”, men may want to be mards and internalise anxiety because of social norms around emotional suppression.

All this anxiety is usually mislabelled as “burnout” or just “getting older”, age ke saath yeh sab cheeze hoti hai you know. This overlooked, untreated anxiety reshapes your brain and can set a scary precursor for how you feel in the next phase of your life.

Treatment can look like anything that suits the individual, from traditional therapy, medication, spiritual healing, lifestyle management through diet and exercise, etc.

“Older generations are more worried about social status and such. Unhein lagta hai, agar main counsellor ke paas jaau toh logo ko lagega mai pagal hu. Younger generations are slightly more approachable” - Kavita Mungi

1 in 5 seniors suffer from anxiety, and most are undiagnosed. In the 60+ age group, silence usually replaces speaking up. People become quiet, avoidant, start staying home, and are overly cautious of themselves and rarely step out of their comfort zone.

Our bade log are experiencing the weight of everything they have ever been through and some more. Health is a constant worry, especially for those having more severe health problems; it’s almost impossible not to worry.

An anxious senior is probably experiencing fatigue, unexplained aches, irritability, indifference, loss of interest in things they once loved and excessive worry about their own and others’ health and safety.

Treatment and conversation can both be difficult for them. Small efforts to make lifestyle changes and silent family support could probably help more than we realise. But once again, treatment is always an option.

“Anxiety has no quick fix. You need to learn how to manage it. Even a small baby is stressed about when they can feed next. School is difficult, and so is college. Adulthood can be even tougher. Career issues go on. People are worried about bodily issues, especially as they become older. Diabetes and blood pressure problems also cause anxiety. The triggers for anxiety are endless; how we deal with it is what matters. Anyone at any age has to work on it” - Kavita Mungi

All this to say, anxiety is an age-old problem. It has just hidden in many ways and is not so easy to recognise at all times. Everyone, from children to teenagers, to young adults, middle-aged people and older parents can experience anxiety for many, many different reasons.


This is not a new problem.

To know more about Anxiety in Children, Anxiety in Teenagers, Anxiety in Adults and Age-wise Anxiety in India, refer to the links below:
● NMHS age-wise prevalence of anxiety
● Anxiety in older adults in India
● Anxiety in school
● Anxiety disorders in teenagers in India
● Parental guidance for anxiety in children and teens