Anxiety can come in many forms; fear of abandonment, fear of failure and fear of commitment are just a few common types of anxiety. For the past several years, Americans have disagreed about the issue of anxiety. Many people believe that anxiety is a serious problem that can affect people’s lives, and that it can and should be treated. On the other side of the issue, some people argue that anxiety is not real, that it is used as an excuse to explain away weakness and laziness. From my own experience, however, I know that anxiety over social situations is real, because I experience it even around my own family, and additionally, there are even commercials advertising medication to treat that anxiety.

When I am in a social situation, I feel intense anxiety. I have felt this anxiety my whole life, anytime I am in an unfamiliar social situation, or even sometimes in familiar settings. For example, my family simply spending time with my grandparents on Christmas Eve can cause feelings of distress. My grandma might be drinking her ‘Sprite’ (which is actually vodka) and my brother might be talking on the phones with his friend, while my dad is paying all of his attention to my grandpa (whose mind is slowly falling into the fog of dementia), and, of course, my mom will be only thinking about how much she hates my dad; but my anxiety convinced me that they are all focused on me and judging me. This is because anxiety is real. 

Additionally, there are actually medications to treat anxiety like my own, that arises from social situations. A recent commercial claims that “You feel like everyone’s judging you,” which shows that social anxiety is real and how it affects people. The commercial says that there is a drug that can help treat social anxiety, which is very positive for people like me, who suffer from this problem. The fact that a major drug company is producing a drug to treat social anxiety shows for a fact that it can be seen as real, and that it can be overcome. 

The issue of race also comes into social anxiety, which is something that was brought to light in the recent Black Lives Matter protests. Because of racial injustice in society, it adds even more social anxiety to African Americans and other minorities, which is not fair. Even though African Americans have more freedoms today, racism is still a part of the modern world, which is something that has to stop. However, defunding police is not the answer, because it will not do anything to stop black on black crime in the African American community.

Social anxiety is real, and it is being treated more and more with medication. If Americans do not understand that social anxiety is a disease and not a personal choice to be lazy, then racism will continue.