ABSTRACT
This chapter examines anxiety sufferers as a particular group of people struggling with mental health issues and complements a body of literature that examines Internet use for social connection across life periods. Today, millions of people in the United States suffer from anxiety and anxiety-related disorders. From general anxiety disorder (GAD) to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), this growing mental health crisis has been only marginally examined by social scientists studying e-Health or the Internet. By considering the role of the Internet for mental health sufferers, we can uncover new understandings of anxiety as a lived social experience in a mediated age. With an increasing reliance on the Internet for health information seeking, for sharing in the doctor-patient-health management processes, and for participating in online health communities, a focus on how these processes happen across life periods is an important site for continued research.
