WE LLN E SS

Here's The Real

Problem With
Casually Using The
Word 'Depressed'
Words matter.

By Suzy Strutner
03/ 21/2017 0 4 : 4 0 pm EDT

We need to change the way we talk

about mental health.

People often use words associated with

mental illness, like “depressed” or
“OCD,” in casual conversation as a way
to express annoyance, make a joke or
explain their feelings. In truth, this is
hugely disrespectful to the one in five
American adults who experience a
mental health condition in a given year.

“It’s actually demeaning to those with

true illnesses that can’t easily stop
these behaviors,” Dan Reidenberg,
executive director of the suicide
awareness organization SAVE,
previously told The Huffington Post. “If
we trivialize them into something else
or we make that become the person’s
identity, we have done everyone a
disservice.”

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Artist Annie Erskine explains it best in

these comics for CollegeHumor: The
words you say matter when it comes to
mental health. Take a look at the
illustrations below:

COLLEGEHUMOR/ANNIE ERSKINE

COLLEGEHUMOR/ANNIE ERSKINE

COLLEGEHUMOR/ANNIE ERSKINE

Head over to CollegeHumor to see the

rest of this spot-on series. Bottom line?
Mental illness isn’t a punchline, it’s a
health condition.

Anxiety Comics

SE E G A LLERY

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MORE: M E N T A L H E A LT H

PSYCHOLOGY P SYC H I AT RY

Suzy Strutner
Lifestyle Editor, HuffPost

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