由英国精神健康基金会进行的一次覆盖面最广的研究指出，有四分之三的英国人认为，在过去的十年中，世界变得越来越令人恐惧；恐怖主义、持刀犯罪、病菌传播以及禽流感等让人们感到焦虑，经济也因此受到不良影响。为了增加民众安全感，英国政府在公共场所增装监控摄像头，而这一行为却使英国民众愈加焦虑。据英国政府公布的数据显示，英国现在受到焦虑症困扰的人群总数达700万，比1993年增加了80万。其中，女性焦虑的比例是男性的两倍，而年轻人比老年人更容易焦虑。

Britons are increasingly "living in fear" with record numbers suffering from anxiety and Government attempts to address the problem may be making it worse, new research suggests.

In one of the most wide-ranging studies of its kind, three quarters of people said they thought the world had become a more frightening place over the last decade.

Issues such as terrorism, knife-crime, MRSA and bird flu have all made people more anxious, which in turn is having an impact on the economy.

Government figures suggest 800,000 more people in Britain now suffer from anxiety disorders¹ than in 1993, taking the total number of sufferers to above seven million.

Such a predominance of fear and anxiety is contributing to the economic crisis because emotion overrides² logical thinking, according to the Mental Health Foundation (MHF) study.

"Individuals and institutions - keen to protect themselves - are now too afraid to lend, spend and invest, despite the fact that these actions could assist in ending the recession," it said.

Women were twice as likely to feel anxious and frightened as men, while young people were more likely than the older generation to be fearful.

A third of all people said fear had prevented them from doing things they want, but efforts to calm the public's fears over issues such as crime often have the opposite effect, the study found.

"Social policy aimed at controlling risk and quelling³ fear often seems to increase it," the report said.

"The UK Government has recently focused on tackling 'fear of crime', but measures based on installing visible signs of 'security' such asCCTV cameras appear to be counter-productive - they don't lead to people feeling safer.

"Creating visible signs of security may make some people more fearful, as they sense high security must mean high risk."

The study said 24-hour news, information about threats and the "catastrophic" language often used by politicians, pressure groups, businesses and public bodies all contributed to anxiety.

High levels of fear and anxiety are linked to depression as well as heart disease, and even conditions such as asthma⁴ and allergies⁵.

The MHF report, entitled In the Face of Fear, surveyed 2,246 adults and found that 66 per cent of people were worried about the current financial situation and 49 per cent specifically about money.

Dr Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the MHF, urged the Government and businesses to reduce "institutionally-driven" fear.

"This report shows that fear is having a serious negative impact on the mental and physical health of the nation," he said.

"The more fearful people feel in the general population, the more people will be tipped over into diagnosable anxiety disorders.

"The modern world will test our resilience again and again, and people need to know how to process their emotions better to prevent harm to their mental and physical health.

"Prevention campaigns about physical illnesses like heart disease and cancer are often mounted but we have seen little investment in educating people about how they can look after their mental health."

Vocabulary:

MRSA: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus 抗药性耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌

CCTV: closed-circuit television 闭路电视