Most symptoms of the “milder” mental disorders (depression, anxiety, adhd, etc.) are things that everyone experiences at some point in their lives.
It’s the degree of experience, frequency, and impact that differentiate the two. Also, when those symptoms don’t have an environmental/situational/logical cause.
For example, being too anxious to go out with friends, or compulsively checking that the stove is off even though you know damn well it hasn’t been turned on in a month. Also, being sad because your pet died isn’t a mental disorder like clinical depression.
The line between the two is definitely fuzzy, but psychology is a super complex topic.
This is also, generally speaking, the line between, say, having obsessive compulsions and having OCD. So if anyone is looking for a way express “haha, I’m totally ocd” without sounding dismissive of people with a serious disorder, just say “sometimes I have obsessive compulsions”. That would imply it’s nothing serious.
Same for PTSD. It’s ok to experience post-traumatic stress after something “rather banal”, like I don’t know, seeing a stranger break their leg. And calling post-traumatic stress is fine. Just don’t say “that baby on the airplane gave me ptsd.” That’s quite dismissive.
Anyone that needs help, go get it. Don’t let that your problem feels banal be an impediment. If something is impacting your life negatively, tune it up.
Only if it negatively impacts your life.
Most symptoms of the “milder” mental disorders (depression, anxiety, adhd, etc.) are things that everyone experiences at some point in their lives.
It’s the degree of experience, frequency, and impact that differentiate the two. Also, when those symptoms don’t have an environmental/situational/logical cause.
For example, being too anxious to go out with friends, or compulsively checking that the stove is off even though you know damn well it hasn’t been turned on in a month. Also, being sad because your pet died isn’t a mental disorder like clinical depression.
The line between the two is definitely fuzzy, but psychology is a super complex topic.
This is also, generally speaking, the line between, say, having obsessive compulsions and having OCD. So if anyone is looking for a way express “haha, I’m totally ocd” without sounding dismissive of people with a serious disorder, just say “sometimes I have obsessive compulsions”. That would imply it’s nothing serious.
Same for PTSD. It’s ok to experience post-traumatic stress after something “rather banal”, like I don’t know, seeing a stranger break their leg. And calling post-traumatic stress is fine. Just don’t say “that baby on the airplane gave me ptsd.” That’s quite dismissive.
Anyone that needs help, go get it. Don’t let that your problem feels banal be an impediment. If something is impacting your life negatively, tune it up.