Don’t undermine those with actual diagnoses

Opinion: Don’t undermine those with actual diagnoses

ANNA WILKINSoN

Too often, people use words that correlate to mental illnesses, which end up normalizing these illnesses instead of bringing awareness to them.

This kind of language is embedded in our generation and used daily. To explain, it is easy for us to describe the situation by saying something such as “I am so depressed” or, in more extreme terms, “I am going to kill myself” when something doesn’t go in our favor. The same goes for people who tend to be organized and self-diagnose themselves as having obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). While some may think that this is acceptable and doesn’t mean anything, this language is not only triggering but hurts those who have mental illnesses. Recently, people have realized that some words embedded into our vocabulary are offensive, but we haven’t gone far enough to purge all of these words from daily use.

An article from Hogg Foundation for Mental Health talks about similar topics but specifically highlights preference. Since the way we speak is constantly evolving, we must keep checking up on each other to see what we prefer to be called. It should be the norm to ask those affected how they want either themselves or what they are suffering from to be referred to as.

I am sure you have heard someone say that they are “so OCD” because they love to be organized. Or that they like to clean, so then there must be OCD somewhere in their genetics. This image of OCD has been going on for many years, and it is an inaccurate painting of the disorder. OCD isn’t just about being an organized person, which people often assume it is. Instead, OCD is an all-consuming and often detrimental disorder that can occur in any kind of person, organized or not. Although I do believe most people realize that being organized is different from OCD, our language around these topics still remains. In the end, this use of this kind of language can come down to education, or the lack of it, around these disorders and illnesses. It is essential to educate students about the signs of things like OCD and depression so they can be aware of how inaccurate their language is.

According to the American Psychiatric Society, someone with OCD would have mannerisms such as recurring unwanted thoughts, ideas, or sensations (obsessions) that make them feel driven to do something repetitively (compulsions). Repetitive behaviors, such as hand-washing, checking on things, or cleaning, can significantly interfere with a person’s daily activities and social interactions.

When it comes to signs or symptoms of depression, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, someone could exhibit any of these symptoms: persistent sadness, anxiety, an “empty” mood, feelings of hopelessness, pessimism, irritability, loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities, difficulty sleeping, early-morning awakening or oversleeping, thoughts of death or suicide, or suicide attempts.

To be clear, I feel like most people in Generation Z are guilty of using depression as a way to describe their bad mood. We need to grow out of this habit as it has become detrimental. As a society, we know that certain words, such as swear words, are bad and should not be used due to their negative connotations. Yet, we fail to realize that words surrounding these illnesses can have the same connotations. By making depression a term to describe normal sadness, we undermine people’s experience with this mental illness by making it a common term.

Since phrases like “I am going to kill myself” are commonly used by the younger generations, we miss signs of when someone is actually having symptoms of these illnesses when any inconvenience happens in our life.

This kind of language is not only common with Gen Z, but Carlmont teachers use the same language. During lectures, instead of using language like “sad” or “upset,” teachers often use “depressed” to depict the extreme sadness they feel is being induced. It may seem like that is the only word to describe extreme sadness, but many other words suffice. To give a few examples: distressed, agony, disheartened, gloom, disappointed, etc. All these words still portray the same message without any consequence to them. This is not to blame every person who has used this kind of language or any language that undermines someone’s situation, as I am sure most people have done this throughout their lives. Rather, I suggest changing this kind of language to support those around us.

Often, I hear people complaining about how they feel useless when it comes to helping those diagnosed with any illness, mental and physical. Still, the easiest way to try and better ourselves for their sake is to rid ourselves of words that can be hurtful and offensive. I find that a lot of older generations are surprised when Gen Z calls them out for their offensive behavior and language. As I mentioned above, this shows the lack of education around why this kind of language is hurtful.

Since these generations have grown up seeing this language as equal to any other kind of language, it can be understandably difficult to expel it.

We can fix this behavior by taking the initiative to educate ourselves on the illnesses we are so commonly talking about and how our language affects those affected. Also, we can kindly remind ourselves and those around us not to use these words as they are doing more harm than we often realize. Most importantly, as mentioned above, keep a person’s preferences in mind if you are able to ask someone affected by these illnesses or disorders, in a respectful and comfortable environment, about their experience and how they feel about the language surrounding them.