From panic disorders to social phobia, anxiety is the most common mental health condition in the United States. What toll does anxiety take on our lives? In this episode, we explore how anxiety affects our bodies, relationships, and lives. We investigate its causes, what it feels like, and what we can do to treat it.

Also heard on this week’s episode:

• Psychologist Tamar Chansky talks about what causes childhood anxiety and what parents can do to help. Her books is called Freeing Your Child from Anxiety.
• When anxious people show up in the emergency room, ER doc Avir Mitra often has to tease out serious physical symptoms that can mimic anxiety — and find ways not to get sucked into anxiety vortex himself.
• Audio producer Carin Gilfry and her sister Erica Buchiarelli discuss the anxiety that motherhood brings, and when those worries cross into the danger zone.
• We’ve all been there — waiting for someone to text us back. We explore how the expectation of constant connection has become a whole new source of anxiety.
• Reporter Nina Feldman brings us this story about a group of Philadelphia seniors who are working to combat anxiety among older patients.