The fear of the unknown and the fear of uncertainty are common feelings and developmentally appropriate for people in their 20s. This is a time of major life changes, career milestones, navigating relationships, and identity formation. However, this generation of 20-year-olds has also lived through several major global, socioeconomic, and political threats and upheavals in a very short amount of time. What was once a life stage filled with normal and even beneficial stress may now be overwhelmed with debilitating fear and anxiety.
What Drives this Fear?
The adolescent and young adult stage is a period that is rich for brain development and formation. Two spurts of brain growth occur in a person's life - the first occurs between birth and 2 years of age and the second during adolescence and can last until the late 20s. During this time, the amygdala is very active. This is the center of the brain that is associated with emotions as well as the fight, flight, and freeze response. Combining this critical developmental stage with the experience of so much collective trauma in the past few years, it is no wonder that many people in their 20s are experiencing heightened fear and anxiety about the future.
How Common is this Anxiety?
According to the 2023 Census, 50% of young adults ages 18-24 reported anxiety and depression symptoms, compared to 30% of adults overall. The American Psychological Association’s 2023 Stress in America survey found that young adults report their average stress level is 6 out of 10. The same survey result showed that young people are more likely to feel “consumed” by worries about finances. In my experience as a psychologist, I have seen young adult clients reporting more severe forms of anxiety including panic attacks, social anxiety, OCD, and phobias after the pandemic. If you are experiencing fear, anxiety, worry, or rumination about your future and the uncertainty of your life, you are not alone.
How Can I Combat this Fear?
You can combat this fear through a number of psychosomatic strategies that aim to calm your nervous system and rewire your brain. If you notice that your fears, worries, and anxieties are getting in the way of you living a healthy and thriving life, you can try the following:
1. Practice deep breathing and meditation on a regular basis
Slowing down your breathing turns off your sympathetic nervous system, which is activated for fight, flight, and freeze, and turns on your parasympathetic nervous system for rest and relaxation. Studies have shown that in just 3 days, meditation can significantly decrease stress levels and begin to calm the amygdala.
2. Create a supportive community
People who have strong relationships where they feel safe, accepted, and connected are 20 times more likely to be resilient in the face of adversity. Creating a strong support network of friends, family, and co-workers can help ease the fear that you are in this alone and can provide you with the security and encouragement that you need to face the uncertainty.
3. Talk about your feelings
Instead of holding on to your fear, suppressing it, or numbing it out, talking about your feelings to loved ones or a trained therapist can help release the stuck emotion. Fear that is not about an immediate threat (i.e., a tiger) is only helpful up to a certain point and then becomes toxic in our bodies if we do not learn to let it go. The complete cycle of emotions includes listening to your fear, honoring the emotion in your body, sharing the burden with someone, and then releasing the emotion.
4. Practice supportive movements
Another way of releasing fear, regulating your emotions, and rewiring your mind and body is through movement. You can release the energy of fear, which makes us want to fight or run, through movement that feels good to you. This could be done through yoga, running, rollerblading, weight lifting, dancing, having sex, etc. You can work with a trauma-informed personal trainer or somatic therapist to work through the fear in your body.
Begin Counseling for Anxiety in Our Seattle Clinic
If you find yourself worried or fearful about your future and the anxiety is preventing you from thriving in your daily life, it may be time for extra help and support. Anxiety stemming from collective trauma is a common response but you do not have to live with crippling fear. With the help of an anxiety specialist, you can find your way back to feeling safe, secure, content, and easeful again. Reach out and schedule a phone consultation with us to see if one of our anxiety specialists might be a good fit for you.
