To be Young and Anxious: Gen Z Women of Color with Anxiety and Using Somatic Therapy Practices to Cope
Gen Z is known for being the generation most open about their mental health and struggles with anxiety. After all, there’s a lot of pressure on young people to quickly adapt to adulthood in an increasingly fast paced, demanding world—all while constantly asking the question “Who am I?” and “What am I doing with my life?”.
To be young, anxious, AND a woman of color? Let’s get a little more specific here. What does the unique intersection of age, gender, and race/ethnicity look like in the realm of anxiety and mental health for young women of color? How does Gen Z experience anxiety now? What unique struggles and experiences affect BIPOC (black, indigenous, people of color) community members and their mental health? What does the research say about women’s experience with anxiety? Let’s take a look.
Hello Anxiety.
What Does Anxiety Look Like?
First, let’s take a look at anxiety and how it takes on many forms both in our minds, bodies, behaviors, and traits. The most common observation is that people with anxiety worry too much and spend too much time overthinking. This is true for many, but anxiety can look so much more than that! Here are some ways people experience anxiety:
Anxiety and Cognitive Experiences
Worrying often about everyday things or a variety of issues
Difficulty controlling the worries
Feeling afraid that something awful is going to happen
For teens: worrying often about performance in school related activities (academics and extracurricular activities)
Anxiety and Somatic (Body) Experiences
Feeling restless, fidgety, or unable to sit still
Indigestion, butterflies in the stomach, or stomach pains
Tense muscles, pain in the body
Difficulty falling asleep
Heart beating fast
Sweaty hands, sweaty body '
Difficulty breathing and tightness in chest
When considering race/ethnicity, people of color are more likely to report somatic symptoms.
Traits Related to Anxiety
People with anxiety may take on certain traits, behaviors, and perspectives that may be rooted from anxiety.
Experience being “Tightly wound”, rigid, or “Type-A” personality
Being judgmental or defensive
Feeling like “the worst is yet to come”
Needing to problem solve right away
Feeling like you need to find the perfect solution
How do you experience anxiety?
Everyone’s anxiety is different. From the way we think, how we experience anxiety in our bodies, and even personality traits.
Let’s Get Specific!
Let’s look at anxiety considering age, gender, and race/ethnicity specifically for young women of color.
Young People and Anxiety: Teens and Young Adults
In a study released in 2023 by the Making Caring Common Project by Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, a national survey of 700 young adults (ages 18-25) found that Gen Z young adults report roughly twice the rate of anxiety and depression as teens. [1]
The study reported common concerns of young adults including:
Financial worries (56%)
A sense of not mattering to others (44%)
Achievement pressure (51%)
Having a “sense that things are falling apart” (45%) [1]
The study also highlights that young people feel a lack of faith in older generations when it comes to difficult challenges in modern society, such as gun violence or climate change, but show more faith and support in each other. [1] This speaks volumes of how Gen Z feels to seek support from older generations who could offer guidance, meaningful insights and wisdom to help young adults develop resilience and hope for their future.
The research shows that Gen Z is first looking for older adults to offer a listening ear, and to connect with their insights and views rather than offering solutions or trying to fix the problem [1]. Speaking from a therapists’ point of view, prioritizing human connection first is vital to fostering change because it supports people by meeting them where they are at first.
As the research suggests, a balance can be created between older and younger adults by fostering conversations that encourage connection, but also promote young adult’s capacity to explore what it means to find purpose in their lives and to look further into what can help them move forward in their life story [1].
Research shows that Gen Z is looking for older adults to offer a listening ear, and to connect with their insights and views rather than offering solutions or trying to fix the problem
Women and Anxiety
As we look at factors related to women’s experiences with anxiety, we need to acknowledge the distinction between biological sex and gender identity. Biological sex is the sex assigned at birth based on biological factors (hormones, chromosomes, physical traits you’re born with, etc.). Gender is the degree to which someone identifies with sociocultural influences such as norms, rules, roles, stereotypes, and expectations of their culture.
A 2022 systemic review explored what the current literature says about the differences between women’s and men’s anxiety, which considered biological and psychosocial factors mostly separately [3]
Overall, the research showed that women tend to develop anxiety more than men [3].
One of the risk factors that the research found when considering psychosocial factors on women’s and men’s development of anxiety was gender socialization. For example, it is normalized for women to experience and openly express feelings of anxiety and fear [4]. Women were also more likely to identify with “feminine traits” such as sweetness and kindness [3]. Additionally, women were more likely to develop anxiety when they took on these “feminine traits” and had low self-esteem [3].
On the other hand, men are more socialized to normalize “masculine traits” such as strength, self-confidence, and assertiveness, which the research found to be a protective factor against anxiety because it can encourage men to take on coping skills that support those traits [4].
Gender socialization is one of the contributing factors for women’s development of higher rates of anxiety than men.
People of Color and Anxiety
The general conversation about race in the United States is a sensitive topic and often sparks controversy which adds to why it needs to be discussed when looking at how anxiety affects young women of color.
The American Psychological Association reported that 44% of people of color reported discrimination as a significant source of stress in their life [2]. When looking at race individually, 48% of Black Americans, 43% of Hispanic, 42% Native Americans, and 41% Asian Americans reported discrimination as a stressor in their lives [2].
Research has shown that experiencing discrimination or even perceived discrimination is positively associated with anxiety symptoms and psychological distress amongst people of color in the United States [5].
Racism and discrimination against people of color affects everybody, including White people. For example, regardless of race, the majority of adults (59%), report police violence toward people of color caused stress in their lives [2].
People of color also experience difficulties with anxiety within their own community as well. For example, people who come from communities that value collectivistic views (more common in non-Western communities such as Asian and Hispanic communities), compared to communities that value individualistic views (more common in Western communities, such as UK and the United States) can experience higher levels of anxiety because the pressure on what the person chooses to do represents not just that person, but their family and their community.
“ I feel the ongoing pressure to keep going in order to push the ceiling up for others coming behind me. That kind of pressure takes a toll”
—African American female, mid 30s, October 2022 [6]
When your choice represents your whole community, it can feel like the pressure is all on you.
People who come from collectivistic cultures, which are more prominent in non-Western communities, can experience anxiety because the pressure on what the person chooses to do represents not just that person, but their entire family and community.
Ok So…Now What?
Reviewing the data can be informative, but also exhausting, especially for people who identify with the risk factors discussed in the research, so it’s normal to ask yourself what happens next.
Focus on Managing Anxiety Rather Than Trying to Get Rid of Your Anxiety
First, it is important to acknowledge the word “manage”. Many times, we want to “get rid of anxiety” or live “anxiety free”, which is unrealistic, and can also be harmful!
Imagine walking across the street and a driver in a speeding car is showing no sign of slowing down. If you stare at that car racing towards you and think to yourself “well isn’t that nice?” you’re going to be best friends with a windshield.
Anxiety can be useful when it activates us during times of need, such as when we are in danger. It starts to become unhelpful when it affects our ability to function in our daily lives, such as our relationships and social life, or being able to engage in activities at work or school.
We need to focus our attention on managing anxiety instead of trying to get rid of it. Managing focuses on acknowledging the feeling and doing something helpful to support the anxious part of us so that we can function more easily.
Focus on managing your anxiety instead of trying to get rid of it.
Focus On What You Can Do Now
There are things that we can control now and things that we simply can’t. Laying in bed at 2am and trying create your 5 year plan in your head is only going to fuel an anxiety ridden planning sesh that’ll result in a lost night of sleep and a brain filled with worries about the far future—something you don’t have any control over while the sun begins to rise.
There are some things, however, that are within our circle of control that can help ground our future worries and make anxiety more manageable. You can learn how to identify your triggers, learn how anxiety affects your individual well-being, and gain coping skills that work with your unique mind-body needs and individual situation.
Ditch the “Just Don’t Think About It” Strategy
Sorry, but the good old “just don’t think about it” strategy will fail you 99% of the time. It is usually followed by irritation or beating ourselves up about not being able to control the worry. Thus, the vicious cycle begins—feeling anxious about something, telling ourselves to stop, scolding ourselves for not being able to stop, feeling awful about ourselves contributing to our lower self esteem, and then making us feel more anxious. Fun.
Instead, you can focus on more effective ways to manage your anxiety.
Somatic Therapy for Anxiety
Contrary to popular belief, you can’t think your way out of anxiety. The more you try to think your way out if, the worse it can get, and can actually limit your ability to engage in effective problem solving.
Somatic (soma meaning body) based therapy practices works with the mind-body connection to support how you respond and cope with anxiety.
This approach can be especially effective for people of color because as previously mentioned, people of color tend to report body related symptoms when experiencing anxiety.
Somatic therapy can help you recognize your body’s signals to identify signs of anxiety and signs of ease. Somatic based coping skills can help make anxiety more manageable by moving away from the thinking brain and instead focusing on supporting and nurturing the body’s “alarm” response.
This can be done in several ways. For example, a somatic practice using the lens of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy™ guides clients to pause, recognize how the body feels, and engage in a somatic practice such as grounding, walking slowly, moving rhythmically, humming, to name a few. You can find the resource here.
When the body feels safe and more at ease, the mind will be able to focus more clearly and engage in problem solving.
Everyone’s anxiety is unique. A coping skill that works for your friends may not work for you, so it is important to work with your therapist to see what coping strategies you respond best to. With practice and consistency, you can learn how to manage your anxiety so that you can feel more steady to take on life’s challenges.
Go to Therapy and Stop Normalizing Your Suffering
If you recognize that you are having trouble managing your anxiety, reach out for help. Anxiety can be difficult to manage, and you don’t have to normalize your suffering. A lot of people experience anxiety, but that doesn’t mean we have to shrug it off.
You can learn how to improve certain risk factors that you identify with such as difficulty feeling supported, low self-esteem, or strong feelings of hopelessness.
You can reach out for culturally affirming care, especially if you have experienced anxiety related to risk factors as a person of color.
The point is, you don’t have to suffer on your own.
The root of your anxiety can be more complex than you initially think, and it can be helpful to work through these issues with a trained therapist.
Let’s work together!
If you are a teen or young adult (Gen Z) woman of color in California looking to improve your anxiety, contact me today to see how you can strengthen your insight, coping skills, and to process experiences that contribute to your anxiety. I utilize an integrative approach that includes somatic practices and cognitive behavioral therapy practices.
References:
Williams, C. (2024). Racial and Generational Trauma: Evidence-Based Somatic Interventions for BIPOC Clients. Lecture.
Tools Mentioned in This Article:
To read more about anxiety, click here.
