Even if we see ourselves as advocates for increasing acceptance and understanding of people dealing with mental health issues, most of us are probably unconsciously contributing to mental health stigma.
We talk about being “depressed” on gloomy days, or “OCD” about the cleanliness of our homes. We remark that our friend has “PTSD” from a bad work week, or is “paranoid” about germs.
Most of us are guilty of having spoken these terms and phrases in everyday conversation. If not, then we’ve definitely heard others use them colloquially. We aren’t being literal, and there’s no real harm, right? Wrong – and the damage we are doing is probably much more significant than we realize.
This misappropriation of such terms belittles mental health conditions and frames them in a negative light. And it impairs the ability of all of us, including those actually confronted with mental illness, to discern between critical mental health issues and exaggerated expressions.
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Guilty as charged although I do try.
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