news
02-16-2016, 12:25 PM
Collectively, we have a nasty habit of misusing mental health words to explain a situation or experience. If you change your mind, you're "bipolar." (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=2014/01/02/diagnoses-health-problems-stop-saying_n_4469035.html) If you're hyper-organized, you're "OCD." And if you're in a stressful situation, you're "having a panic attack."
Not only is it a little dramatic, it could diminish someone who actually suffers from a mental health condition. This is especially true when it comes to debilitating panic episodes.
It's hard enough managing crippling episodes of panic and fear -- imagine having someone who doesn't even know what it's like use the term as a joke. As Rebecca Fuoco, a health communications specialist and mental health advocate, explained in a HuffPost blog, using mental illness as a figure of speech can be incredible damaging.
"The more the names of mental illnesses occur in our conversations as facetious self-diagnoses and misappropriated adjectives, the more difficult we make it (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=rebecca-fuoco/lets-stop-using-mental-il_b_6091476.html) for those with clinical diagnoses to speak out and be heard," she wrote.
Not sure if you should use the term to describe a situation or experience? We've got you covered. Below we've created a handy flowchart to help you determine when it's actually appropriate to say that you're having a panic attack:
Throwing around mental health-related terms in a casual manner can be dangerous. It not only perpetuates a negative stereotype about people with mental illness, but the stigma associated with it may prevent them from seeking treatment (http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/stigma-as-a-barrier-to-mental-health-care.html).
Nearly 40 million American adults (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/any-anxiety-disorder-among-adults.shtml) are affected by anxiety disorders and approximately 6 million American adults (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/panic-disorder/index.shtml) suffer from panic disorders. A common symptom of the conditions includes panic attacks, which causes the sufferer to experience labored breathing, dizziness, trembling and racing thoughts (http://www.adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/panic-disorder-agoraphobia/symptoms).
The sooner we all start taking mental health seriously -- and treating it sensitively -- the better the culture will be around mental illness. Simple as that.
Also on HuffPost:
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=terms.html/) It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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Not only is it a little dramatic, it could diminish someone who actually suffers from a mental health condition. This is especially true when it comes to debilitating panic episodes.
It's hard enough managing crippling episodes of panic and fear -- imagine having someone who doesn't even know what it's like use the term as a joke. As Rebecca Fuoco, a health communications specialist and mental health advocate, explained in a HuffPost blog, using mental illness as a figure of speech can be incredible damaging.
"The more the names of mental illnesses occur in our conversations as facetious self-diagnoses and misappropriated adjectives, the more difficult we make it (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=rebecca-fuoco/lets-stop-using-mental-il_b_6091476.html) for those with clinical diagnoses to speak out and be heard," she wrote.
Not sure if you should use the term to describe a situation or experience? We've got you covered. Below we've created a handy flowchart to help you determine when it's actually appropriate to say that you're having a panic attack:
Throwing around mental health-related terms in a casual manner can be dangerous. It not only perpetuates a negative stereotype about people with mental illness, but the stigma associated with it may prevent them from seeking treatment (http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/stigma-as-a-barrier-to-mental-health-care.html).
Nearly 40 million American adults (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/any-anxiety-disorder-among-adults.shtml) are affected by anxiety disorders and approximately 6 million American adults (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/panic-disorder/index.shtml) suffer from panic disorders. A common symptom of the conditions includes panic attacks, which causes the sufferer to experience labored breathing, dizziness, trembling and racing thoughts (http://www.adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/panic-disorder-agoraphobia/symptoms).
The sooner we all start taking mental health seriously -- and treating it sensitively -- the better the culture will be around mental illness. Simple as that.
Also on HuffPost:
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=terms.html/) It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/247391660728/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4d9fd5ad/sc/14/rc/1/rc.img (http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/247391660728/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4d9fd5ad/sc/14/rc/1/rc.htm)
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