An Open Letter To Anyone Misusing These Three Words

Mental health is nothing to over-dramatize or under-value

There are a few words that keep coming up in my feed, along with hearing them in casual conversation. Words like these are used almost jokingly where we’ve become so numb to hearing or seeing them that we just scroll right by without a second thought. As a psychologist and Certified Clinical Trauma and Addiction Specialist, I can’t help but cringe every time I hear these words being misused.

Several years ago, the word “narcissist” was all the rage. It too was being misused, overused, and misidentified in pop culture. Everyone and their mother was a “narcissist” at one time — not because they met clinical diagnostic criteria — but because they were obsessed with selfies. Or the gym. Or their looks.

Now the word narcissist seems to have made a resurgence where a “narcissistic ex” or “narc boss” make social media headlines. And yes, while some behaviors (tyrannical boss or selfie-obsessed gym goer) may be small red flags of narcissistic behavior, they do not in-and-of themselves indicate a person is a narcissist, let alone diagnosable.

Another trending word recently was “OCD” where anyone who was clean, neat, or who liked order or structure was deemed obsessive and compulsive and had “OCD.” If a person was a stickler for being on time, they had OCD. If a person stuck to a daily routine…OCD.

When clinical terminologies become everyday language on social media or in our social circles, there’s a problem. And when we, as a culture, turn a blind eye and begin minimizing the significance of psychological disorders as mere misfortunes, dramatic situations, or something we don’t agree with, there’s a problem.

With that said, there are three other words that have seemed to gain traction among social media that need to stop being misused.

“Traumatized.” The DSM-V (2013) identifies trauma as an essential feature of Post-Traumatic…

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