IN A 2019 VIDEO produced for the Child Mind Institute that went viral, the actor and comedian Bill Hader discussed his lifelong struggles with anxiety. Hader said that anxiety “doesn’t really go away; you manage it. Instead of pushing away your anxiety—and I always imagined my anxiety as this little monster that would attack my face or pull at my ears—instead of pushing that thing away and trying to fight it, I would just go, ‘Hey, buddy,’ like it was a little monkey, and I’d [say], ‘Okay, sit on my shoulder. Let’s hang out.’”
The debate over how to cope with anxiety disorders is the issue of the moment. Potential cures fuel social media feeds, news reports, and water-cooler conversations. Everyone, it seems, has tips: CBD oil, meditation, yoga, cognitive…