Sometimes people get in the habit of using a word in situations where it is not quite right.
Take a statement like, “I am really anxious to meet you.”
Does the speaker mean they are eager to meet the person? Or do they mean that meeting the other person inspires a feeling of worry or dread?
This might seem like a small matter. After all, most of the time, context clues provide enough information for us to figure out what is meant. But in other cases, misuse of a word—even misuses that seem inconsequential can lead to misunderstandings. This can be problematic when the subject is under discussion.
Two words, in particular, are often slightly misused in ways that can minimize the real challenges that people struggling with a mental health disorder must cope with. One of those words is, in fact, “anxiety.” The other is “depression.”
Let’s take a closer look at both of these words.
An Anxiety Disorder is More than a Tendency to Worry
There are plenty of things to worry about in the world. You might be worried about an upcoming presentation you are preparing for your bosses. You might be worried about making ends meet after an unexpected expense pops up. You might be worried about the health of your aging parents or your young children or about your own health. You might be worried about various topics in your community, your state, the country, or even the world.
It is not uncommon to hear people say that they are “anxious” about such things. And as we noted above, generally speaking, it is easy to conclude that they are using “anxious” as a synonym for “worried.”
But when we are talking about a person’s mental health, it is important to note a distinction between anxiety and worry. A person with an anxiety disorder might feel a sense of worry or dread all of the time—but that anxiety might not be associated with anything in particular. The same is true of a panic disorder: a person who is beset by panic might not be panicking about a specific thing. Rather, they simply find themselves in a state of panic.
Worry can be a useful feeling because it might inspire you to do something productive that will reduce that feeling. You might work harder on your presentation or take your loved one to see a doctor or get involved with a cause that is important to you.
Anxiety, on the other hand, can be debilitating—and brushing it off as a surplus of worry is not productive. Anxiety and panic disorders should be addressed via treatment—including therapy and, when appropriate, prescription medication.
The Various Kinds of Depression are More than Sadness
There are plenty of things to be sad about in the world. We could list just as many causes of sadness as we listed for worry, and we would still be nowhere near identifying all the causes of either emotion.
It is not uncommon to hear people use “depressed” as a synonym for “sadness.” But that is an extreme simplification of the nature of depression—which is not just one disorder. A person might struggle with major depression, persistent depressive disorder, post-partum depression, one of the forms of bipolar disorder (once known as manic depression), seasonal affective disorder, and more.
While these various forms of depression might include feelings of sadness, that sadness is not necessarily tied to any one situation. In this way, depression is to sadness what anxiety is to worry. That is, you can experience depression quite apart from the common causes and feelings of sadness all of us deal with from time to time.
Sadness, like worry, can be a motivator, leading a person to take action that might alleviate their sadness. Depression, on the other hand, can be overwhelming—making it difficult to do anything at all. Telling a person struggling with depression to “cheer up” is not only ineffective, it can also come across as needlessly mean.
Stigmas About Mental Health Persist
Why is it mean to tell someone who is depressed to cheer up or to tell someone who is experiencing anxiety that they should calm down? It is mean because those suggestions reveal a deep misunderstanding of what a person with a mental health disorder is going through. And that can lead to reinforcing stigmas that make the issues related to mental health even harder for people to talk about.
We hope everyone who is reading this blog post—whether they themselves are dealing with a mental health disorder or they know someone who is—will be part of the solution by making it easier to talk about mental health and steering clear of language that reinforces stigmas.
We Are Here to Help
At Peak View Behavioral Health, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, we create personalized treatment plans to help individuals improve their mental health and maintain those improvements over time. Don’t let stigmas related to mental health keep you from getting the help you need. You will always be treated with respect and empathy at Peak View Behavioral Health.
