If you are someone who knows the struggles of living with anxiety then I'm sure you're not blind to people who are trying to romanticize it. These people are trying to make the anxiety they feel into something cute. The people who are trying to make their anxiety cute most likely do not suffer from an anxiety disorder because if they did, they would understand that there is nothing cute about anxiety. Instead, these people have normal, healthy anxieties that all people get.

The difference between healthy anxiety and anxiety as a mental health problem varies from person to person. Getting a little nervous before a big test is a normal healthy dose of anxiety, but being so upset about the test that you don't sleep the night before and can't stop yourself from shaking as you take the test is not a healthy amount of anxiety and is definitely not cute. Anxiety is something that everyone gets at some points in their life, in small doses it is OK, but when it becomes an everyday struggle, that has crossed over from healthy anxiety to a possible anxiety disorder.

When I was in tenth grade, I was so anxious that I would lash out at people and burst into tears without warning. I stopped doing the things I loved, like playing soccer, because I was too anxious to go to tryouts. I had been playing soccer for as long as I could remember but when I started suffering from anxiety, the thought of going to tryouts was just too much for me. After months of this, I finally went to the doctor. I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. What this means is basically that I am constantly anxious about something.

I'm always worrying something bad is going to happen, or about money and other stressors. After my diagnosis, I was given medication to help try and ease my mind and I started seeing a therapist. While all of this was going on in my life, I never once had the thought to try and make my anxiety cute or thought I was so lucky to have it because it wasn't cute. Nothing about me being so afraid to go try out for soccer was cute. Nothing about me staying up all night because of the nightmares I was having night after night made me think that I was lucky to have so much anxiety. Nothing about my anxiety was romantic.

So why do we see people trying to make it cute, or make it romantic? Well, for some, if they really do have an anxiety disorder and they try to cope by making it seem cute or less scary than it is that's okay because that's their coping method. But if you do not have an anxiety disorder, if every day of your life is not riddled with fear and worry, don't try to romanticize my anxiety. Don't try to make me feel lucky for having it. This is something I will struggle with every day of my life. This is not something I wanted. This is not romantic.