What were you doing on October 10th this year? Hopefully, you were aware that it was Mental Health Awareness Day. Whether you knew this or not, every day should be a day where we are aware and sympathetic towards mental illness, but unfortunately, that’s not the case.

Anxiety is one of those mental illnesses people like to pretend doesn’t exist or isn’t severe enough to be a “real” mental illness.

What makes a mental illness “real” anyway? The definition would be anything that affects mood, thinking or behavior. So why would anxiety not be included?

Anxiety gets a bad rep in modern society, there are so many misconceptions about what it really means, and how it truly makes one feel. If you have it, then you know how indescribable it is to those who don't.

I’m nobody special, I'm not an expert psychologist, just a college kid who's experienced these things attempting to clear up the current ignorance society has towards kids with anxiety.

The fundamental problem in society is people don’t understand, and I guess I can't blame them. I mean, how are you expected to understand what someone is going through if you've never experienced it yourself?

If you Google the definition of anxiety, you get this: “a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome”, which is a subpar and vague definition if you ask me.

The most common misconception of anxiety is that you have to be “worried” or “anxious” about something or someone specific, which is evidently false.

Kids especially feel anxious for no apparent reason. A reason they cannot describe that eats away at their emotions and well-being and cannot be rid of. Anxiety doesn’t always make sense, even to the person experiencing it.

Whether it’s Social Anxiety, Phobia Disorder, Panic Disorder, or any other branch of anxiety, the younger generation is affected by them all.

Anxiety in teens and young adults usually leads to depression and sometimes more severe illnesses. It is not something to be belittled or made lesser than other mental diseases, the effects can be just as detrimental.

Becoming aware of these illnesses and not becoming ignorant to their effects on younger generations is an important part of Mental Health Awareness, and helps society become more educated as a whole.

One person can help change the perspective of many - let’s all try and be that one.