Image: YouTube.

In Australia, anxiety disorders are the most common form of mental illness.

According to ABS data, these disorders — which include panic disorder and agoraphobia — are affecting roughly 14 per cent of the population aged between 16 and 85. There’s a very good chance someone you love is affected.

RELATED: This is what it actually feels like to have a panic attack.

Despite being so commonplace, anxiety remains shrouded in stigma and a general lack of understanding.

14 per cent of Australians experience anxiety disorders - and they don't always look like this.

For people who haven't experienced it first-hand, it's hard to comprehend just how serious and debilitating the symptoms can be; from the outside it's all too easy to dismiss a panic attack as something that can be merely 'snapped out' of.

RELATED: What to do when someone is having a panic attack.

In an effort to raise understanding and awareness of anxiety disorders, Kentucky man Casey Cahill took a brave step: he filmed himself in the midst of a panic attack, and shared the footage on Reddit and Youtube.

The 27-year-old is visibly distressed in the clip — tears stream from his eyes, he's clearly shaking, and his voice trembles as he describes the sensations ravaging his mind and body. (Post continues after video.)

"My brain is on fire right now. I feel like I'm going to pass out, my emotions are crazy, obviously. I'm having crazy thoughts in my head," Cahill says.

"I've always been the type of person that says 'you've gotta man up, you've gotta force your way through it' but that'd be like telling a blind person to see. Just through willpower I can't do anything about this."

RELATED: Why Amanda Seyfried decided to finally seek help for her anxiety disorder.

Cahill experiences panic attacks "from time to time", and he explained to The Mighty that anxiety has been "a huge part" of his life since he was just 15. "I dialled 911 thinking I was having a heart attack after looking up my symptoms online,” he told the website.

“A few weeks ago, I was looking on YouTube for similar videos, hoping I could find something that made me feel like I wasn’t alone, that I wasn’t going crazy. Unfortunately, everything I found seemed pretty ‘mild’ compared to how I felt." (Post continues after gallery.)

Celebrities who have battled Anxiety Disorder

Emma Stone

Emma Stone has had a long history of panic attacks, and told USA Today "I just started meditating in January... It's changing my life completely. I'm pretty into it. Once or twice a day, I meditate. That has been the best thing for my mind."

Olivia Munn

Actress Olivia Munn has been very public about her battle with anxiety, revealing to Marie Claire in 2013 that she is "trying to overcome my social anxiety. Its manifested in trichotillomania, a disorder that gives me the urge to pull out my eyelashes."

Adele

Adele told The Rolling Stone in 2011 "I'm scared of audiences... I get shitty scared. One show in Amsterdam, I was so nervous I escaped out the fire exit. I've thrown up a couple of times. Once in Brussels, I projectile-vomited on someone. I just gotta bear it. But I don't like touring. I have anxiety attacks a lot."

Kate Moss

Kristen Stewart

Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez sought help in January 2014 for her severe anxiety, telling fans in a statement: It has become clear to me and those close to me that after many years putting my work first, I need to spend some time on myself in order to be the best person I can be."

Kim Basinger

Hollywood Actress, Kim Basinger, has had a history of social anxiety, agoraphobia and panic disorder. Basinger has been open about her mental health issues, and in an interview with Charlie Rose stated: "Fear has been something I've lived with my entire life, the fear of being in public places - which led to anxiety or panic attacks... I stayed in my house and literally cried every day."

Barbra Streisand

Oprah Winfrey

This spurred Cahill to share his own experience. In the video, he explains starting a new full-time job had brought his anxiety back to the surface, because he was worried his new peers would judge him.

"I just wanted to make this video to show to myself that this is what it's like when you don't try to help yourself. When you think you can do it on your own," Cahill says.

Happily, the video has been met with messages of support from fellow sufferers, who have shared their own stories. It carries an important message for anybody living with anxiety disorders: you are not alone.

If you, or someone you love, is suffering from anxiety disorders, there are a number of services in Australia which provide information and support that can help:

Mental health support services in Australia

Beyond Blue

Services: Beyond Blue offers immediate support services through a help line, online web chats and email. They also offer information on mental health conditions for both people who are affected by them, as well as their families and friends. Help line: 1300 22 4636 Website: www.beyondblue.org.au

Headspace

Services: Headspace is the National Youth Mental Health Foundation. If you're 12-25, you can get health advice, support and information from headspace. Headspace has more than 70 centres across Australia. Website: www.headspace.org.au

Black Dog Institute

Services: The Black Dog Institute is dedicated to improving the lives of people affected by mood disorders through their high quality translational research, clinical expertise and national education programs. Phone: (02) 9382 2991 Website: www.blackdoginstitute.org.au

Lifeline

Services: Lifeline offers 24/7 crisis support and suicide prevention services. You can contact Lifeline through their help line and through an online chat service. Help line: 13 11 14 Website: www.lifeline.org.au

Sane Australia

Services: Sane offers people affected by mental illness with support training and education. Their award-winning educational resources include guidebooks and ebooks, fact sheets, podcasts, videos, guidelines for health professionals, and magazine 'SANE News'. Help line: 1800 18 7263 Website: www.sane.org