Do you find the term "depression" offensive when used inappropriately?

[weegiemum]

I've been on another active thread when people were askign what was an offensive term that people shouldn't use?

I've said that I find people saying "I'm so depressed" when what they mean is "I'm mildly inconvenienced" quite hard to cope with, especially on my bad days (bad days infrequent now but do include not being able to get up/out of the house etc .... Plus those days when you feel your negative thoughts are going to swallow you up .....

Does anyone else with depression or dealing with depression in others feel the same as me. Or am I jsut being too sensitive.

Last week I heard someone say (school gate) "Oh I'm so depressed there were no

I think part of the stigma attached to depression is that people on the whole, don't really understand it, precisely because the term is bandied about so readily, when , as you say, someone means they are a 'bit ticked off' or sad..

not that they have a real mental health issue

don't think it is used to offend , but it is used thoughtlessly

I know, I feel the same. It is often, sadly, used as a very glib statement by people who are pretty ignorant of the real debilitating illness that depression is.

Another one I find offensive is "ohh I've OCD, hahaha" because they washed their hands more than once or straightened a cushion. My DD has it and I don't find the fact thats she's haunted by suicidal thoughts funny.

Maybe I should have put this in the other thread ?

In some ways it is the thoughtlessness that gets to me the most.

People who use "depressed" quite happily, when they have no idea what depressed really means (I've had recurrent depression since I was a teenager, had ECT, loads of diferent drugs, therapies ... am finally genuinely improving! After 25 years of it!) - those are the people I want to slap. Can't they just say "Oh it was a bit irritating there were no poncey crisps today"?

Probably not.

And on the other thread I'm being too sensitive apparantly, with comparisons to how people describe children with disabilities. But I am an adult with a debilitating condition (have chosen not to apply for DLA as dh earns enough for us to have our own coping mechanisms in place and anyway I am getting better).

Like my disability isn't as important.

YY cp - OCD another one, or "schizophrenic" to mean "split personality" when that is not what it is like at all.

I once heard someone say that not getting an internal promotion made her "suicidal" and she laughed. I spent 4 days in inrensive care once cos I was really suicidal and overdosed big time. That's suicidal!

I've been depressed on an off for most of my adult life. Currently off the ADs (woohoo) but never know if/when I'll slide back. I don't find it offensive, tbh. I just assume that people using it inappropriately have a rather limited vocabulary.

It does sound ridiculous to say "Oh, I couldn't get my nails done; I'm so depressed" etc.

I don't think depression is really taken that seriously by people who haven't genuinely suffered from it.

I don't find it offensive, I just find it upsetting that it suggests that when I tell people I'm having a depressive episode, that they won't take me seriously and think I just mean I'm a bit pissed off about something!

I tend to not say that I am depressed for that reason. I say 'having a depressive episode' to indicate that this is an acute phase of a chronic illness.

And, because I have been so supported by my whole family, I am still shocked and saddened when I hear that people don't take depression seriously as an illness.

I often say something is "depressing", in the crisp example above I would be more likely to say "That's depressing", rather than "That's irritating".

Would you find that offensive?
Hope I haven't been upsetting people all this time.

Okay, you want honest opinions, right?
I think you're being a bit precious to try to own this term only for the clinical definition. I can't see that anyone dismisses clinical depression as an imaginary / unimportant condition just because "I'm depressed" gets said (at times) for quite minor situations.

Just my tuppence!

weegie, I'll say it again here - I agree entirely with you that misuse of "having depression" is wrong, as it is a clinical condition and people shouldn't use it unless they actually have it.

But anyone can be a bit depressed - it is a state of mind or being that can occur over small or large things, that can be fleeting or last a long time - and that can sometimes even lead to depression.

I think the bigger mistake is that people confuse the two - they are very different, IMO.

wukter - doesn't offend me. I say that too.

but would someone saying they were "a bit obsessive" annoy you too, pixie? to me that is in the same context (wrong word, sorry, can't think of the right one, brain has failed me) as being depressed - without the clinical aspect of OCD - so I am interested in your feelings, not being combative.

don't find it offensive at all. Unless you've experienced clinical depression firsthand you probably won't have even the teeniest tiniest grasp on what it feels like. And good thing too. Wouldn't wish it on anyone.

I think expecting the non-depressed to really understand depression is too big an ask. (It's a bit like the gulf between people who have children, and those who don't: completely impossible to imagine parentood until it happens to you.)

Personally I kind of like the innocence of people who don't understand it.

I don't really like it misused so much but i am not offended by it. Makes me think how nice it would be to not know what clinical depression is like.

Feeling depressed doesn't mean you have depression, just a feeling of sadness.

I think you are being precious and over sensitive...and yes I have suffered from depression and so has a close family member.

I suppose what I am saying is that they are not using the term to hurt you or undermine you, so don't let it hurt you / undermine you (difficult when you are suffering from depression, I know).

thanks Pixie - that's what I was meaning about the difference between "being depressed" and "having depression" as well.

Pixie - OCDs can take many forms so maybe you are slightly ignorant as to the facts when talking about OCDs???

I work withint the mental health profession and don;t find the use of the words at all irritating - I think eberyone has different tolerances and some things make people feel sad or upset which they class as depression - who are you with your level of depression to gage their feelings and what level of trauma in their lives counts as a depression to them

We have patients at work who are clinically depressed and if you heard the reasons you would say 'What the fuck has he/she got to be depressed about' but then on the other hand there are patients which you fully understand why they are depressed - you cannot decide to have the right to class how other people feel or what degree of upset they must have had in their lives to cause them depression.

Pixie - seriously? you are comparing a racist slur with using the word 'depression' incorrectly to explain that you are feeling a bit sad?

FFS its like saying to someone on the phone in the Sahara that you are really hot today and them turning round saying you don't know what hot is!! You do because you are hot but not as hot as them but it doesn;t mean that they are not hot does it.

The you don't know how bad it can be line is a good one but I think you are unaware that people do have a grasp on their feelings and if their lives are that mundane that they feel depressed over not being able to get a packet of crisps it neither means that they do not feel that way or mean that they are undermining how you feel.