It's upsetting to see that people still misuse words related to mental illness. I don't understand why people continue to carelessly throw around words that aren't meant to be thrown around. Mental Illness is serious. It is not something to be joked about or used in order to be "relatable." Why can't people comprehend that when they do this they are hurting others? Do they know that they are making other people's very real mental illnesses seem like nothing? I decided to share my own experience with this issue to help others understand why this is so wrong.
Not too long ago, I was scrolling on twitter when I saw this post come up.
I have lived with and been treated for social anxiety for the last seven years of my life. This is not funny to me. This is just one example of people on social media trying to be "relatable" and joke about it. I'm sorry, but my social anxiety is not a joke. It never has been. For years, I've taken the long way to places just to avoid people. I used to shake when I talked. I couldn't even look people in the eyes for the longest time. I get a pit in my stomach just thinking of confrontation. Fortunately, I have come along way in the past years. It doesn't mean that I don't still suffer from it. Yes, I had been in therapy and prescribed meds, but social anxiety isn't something that is cured so simply. For someone to casually use social anxiety in a post like this takes away from its meaning. Social anxiety isn't just about not being able to walk up to a group of people and start a conversation. It's not about regretting every word you say. You know why? That stuff happens all the time to everyone. That is not what social anxiety is. Social anxiety takes over a person so much that it affects their everyday life. It won't allow someone to eat, sleep, or breathe. It's not something that makes you slightly uncomfortable. It's powerful. It feels like a monster at times, I know. When you make someone's mental illness out to be not as a big deal as it really is you are being ignorant and disrespectful. They have a real problem that they suffer from and others act like it's just a little something that everyone has.
The mention of social anxiety hurt. The mention of a panic attack hurt more. It hits close to home for me. I have had panic attacks. Just thinking about it makes my stomach sink and my chest hurt. It hurts recalling the times I'd feel frozen, unable to talk. I remember shaking and not being able to stop. I remember audibly breathing fast and heavy. I remember the tears running down my face and wishing for it to stop, wishing I could just calm myself down. I remember calling out, "I can't breathe. I can't breathe." You feel like you're dying in a way. I never know when they'll come and I never know when they'll stop. I just hope that they don't come and if they do, I hope they end soon. I'm pretty sure the person who posted the tweet above didn't mean this when writing it. But now others who see it will get the wrong idea of what a panic attack is. Sometimes it's even triggering to see stuff like this posted.
I don't know whether people are insensitive or uneducated about this topic. All I know is that it hurts people out there who have mental illnesses including me. This is just one example of the misuse of mental illness terms. I've heard many words get thrown around like OCD, bipolar, depressed, etc. How does it feel when someone casually uses words related to my own mental illness? In one word- awful. I feel misunderstood. I feel upset. I feel degraded. I feel like my problems aren't significant. It makes me feel sick. Please don't use these words so casually. They are not to be talked about lightly. Call someone out when they do this. Discourage this kind of talk about mental issues. Read a dictionary and expand your vocabulary for crying out loud. Know what is appropriate and what is just plain hurtful. Whatever you do don't let this keep happening. We are better than this.
