The more time we spend using social media, the more terms we tend to pick up. This also applies when it comes to the psychology field. Words such as
“gaslighting”, “depression”, “bipolarity”, “trauma”, OCD and “narcissism” have become constant part of our vocabulary, but do we ever consider the fact that
they might not have the meaning we think they do? “If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things.” Confucius said in his work, The Analects. The mass adoption of psychological speech might affect people who suffer from actual
diseases. Freud also contributed to the spread of psychological, now, common terms such as “denial” and “death wish”.
Here are some of the most well known psychological terms which are often misused.
1.Traumatising
Maybe one of the most used world in this category, “traumatising” is a term commonly used to describe uncomfortable or embarrassing situations. However, it may be to casually used to portray this type of situations. People do experience traumatic events, but describing yourself as being traumatised when something perceived as being negative happens will not solve the problem. “When we hear the use of the word ‘traumatized’ in this very casual sense, it trivializes what trauma and being traumatized actually is.” Elisa Martinez, a psychotherapist based in California says. This fact can lead to the misunderstanding of certain diseases which affect several people.
2. Narcissism
Amongst social media’s favorite diagnosis is “narcissism”. “I see narcissism being especially misapplied when it’s used to label someone who exhibits qualities that someone might not like.” says Jacquelyn Tenaglia, a licensed mental health counselor from Boston. While we use this word in order to describe a person who always talks about themselves, narcissistic personality disorder is a clinical diagnoses which can consist of unreasonable sense of self-importance and inability to cope with criticism.
3. Gaslighting
Merriam-Webster (the oldest dictionary publisher in the United States) called “gaslighting” its 2022 word of the year. Today, we hear it, often used inaccurately. Gaslighting is a type of emotional abuse in which someone uses psychological manipulation to undermine the other person in order to make them question reality and themselves.
One thing we should consider when using these terms is the effect they have on the people around us. Isn’t it disrespectful to use these words in the wrong situations? People struggle to get over mental health issues and misusing words which describe things that make them suffer is not the right thing to do. So, let’s try to avoid using psychology related terms in wrong situations and try to replace them with more suitable words.
Bibliography:
lingo-can-harm-n275381
wellness/index.html
therapy-speak
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