There is an ad on TV at the moment where a contestant flippantly says they have PTSD from seeing the same desert they were eliminated on in a previous season
Maybe it did affect them deeply — I don’t know their story. But this moment highlighted something important:
We’re still using serious mental health terms flippantly in everyday conversation and media.
– Liking things clean doesn’t mean you have OCD
– Feeling disappointed doesn’t mean you’re depressed
– Experiencing mood swings doesn’t mean you’re bipolar
– Calling someone “psycho” because they’re unpredictable is not okay
– And not every uncomfortable moment is trauma
These are real, often debilitating conditions that affect people in profound ways — reducing them to punchlines is not useful.
Let’s
– choose language that shows compassion and respect.
– listen and learn before we label.
– hold space for the complexity of mental health — without minimising it.
Let’s be more mindful and respectful in how we speak — not just for the sake of accuracy, but out of compassion for the people who live with these realities every day.