Reader's Question: Why so many young women seem to have "anxiety" these days?

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Reader's Question: "What do you think of gender theory? Why so many young women seem to have "anxiety" these days?"

My Answer: I don't know what you mean by gender theory - or rather, you could mean any one of a large number of different things. So I shall leave that aside. 

Women have anxiety for several reasons to do with natural selection. Anxiety is the commonest psychiatric symptom. The reason is that it (i.e. fear) is an evolved, adaptive, necessary emotion to some degree - but we are no living in the same kind of environment in which we evolved - so anxiety seems to be triggered without need, and more severely than needed. 

http://www.hedweb.com/bgcharlton/psychopharm.html

Consequently modern humans self medicate to reduce anxiety - using alcohol, and many other tranquilising, sedative and emotion-buffering drugs. Then, a secondary reason for anxiety is withdrawal from these pharmacological agents. 

Women are more anxious than men as a protective instinct to guard against physical damage or death, because women are required to live long enough (and be healthy enough) to raise maybe six babies up to adolescence. (More exactly, on average women's investment in offspring can enhance prospects of the survival and eventual reproductive success more than men's.)

http://www.unl.edu/rhames/courses/current/readings/campbell.pdf
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