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

totally agree OP. i hate it when i hear people saying they are depressed/have OCD or saying someone is a bit "schizo" and also hate when people say their kids have ADHD when really their children are just being a bit rowdy. it is so obvious they have never experienced any of these conditions. really thoughtless use of the words.

Please be careful with each other's feelings guys - don't need to go upsetting each other's feelings on here - Mental Health needs to be safe x

Oh Pixie I have believe me, abuse, an OCD which lead to me being admitted to hospital from not eating for weeks because I thought the germs would make me ill and being so depressed that my next step was walking out of the doors of work into the path of the next bus that went past. So please don't patronise me.

How many teenagers have you seen sitting in their clothes in a shower sobbing whilst their arms run with their won blood - I work in that area and have seen a few so please please don't be so bloody offensive and precious - depression is a state of mond and it can affect many people in different ways and people who are truely depressed have no right to think that because they are depressed that other peoples feelings don't matter as they are not as severe as theirs. You are being terribly precious.

Are you sure you are addressing your comments re. depression to the right person, MmeCastafiore? Pixie was mostly discussing OCD, not being depressed/depression.

I'm more perplexed at how, whenever someone is behaving really reprehensibly, one of the first conclusions people seem to make on here is that he/she must be depressed or mentally ill.

As if a) it's an excuse for terrible behaviour b) but of course, the depressed and other mentally ill most assuredly can't handle normal life, work, etc.

In fact, it's very few mentally ill who are unable to cope with normal day-to-day life long-term.

Some people are just arses, mental illness or no.

I supppose blaming it on something else or assuming there's some other factor might make that more palatable, but it doesn't make the person in question any less of an arse.

Do you think, though, expat, that it is a counter-reaction to the "Leave the bastard!" brigade, when it turns out by dripfeeding that the bastard person in question does have mental health issues, so people are more inclined to suggest it rather than just assume the person in qu is a complete shit?

Am not sure that entirely makes sense but it's 2am here and I should be in bed.

I think, even with drip feeding, that you can't tell if a person is truly mentally ill most of the time except IRL.

Substance abuse may be indicative of mental illness, but it's still substance abuse, for example.

I think a lot of people, sadly though, would rather be with an arse than single.

true enough - I guess I was really talking about when the OP does eventually say "oh but he is on ADs for depression/ meds for some other mental illness" after everyone has said "leave the bastard".

But you are right - some people would rather stay with anyone than be on their own.

what really gets my mn goat is any description of odd/inappropriate behaviour is quickly surmised as "must have had mental health issues" as if every badly behaved action is result of mental health

SM put it much better and more concisely.

Spot on.

I agree that people say they are depressed and actually mean they are fed up they have nothing nice for dinner or can't get new shoes in their size.

I also find that lots of people are saying they are depressed/bi-polar like it has become trendy to have the illness.

I'll be gentle as this is MH..

i think in any situation where you use colloquialy a term such as 'mad' depressed' 'addicted' you generally don't mean mad or depressed - you mean a bit down, or angry, or that you really like something......and i think reasonably you have to recognise this. It doesn't mean the same person doesn't take MH issues seriously - in fact you will find people who have had depression and other MH issues still use such colloquial expressions themselves. (think about it: 1 in 10 people has some kind of MH issue..isn't it 1 in 3 in the course of their life?).

also i think it is worth remembering that the other person can't predict necessarily that you will be sensitive to such terms.

oh "must have sn"in response to any badly behaved child is irksome too

i was married to a man who was 'depressed'.....he was abusive and this was justified because he was 'depressed'. docs gave him medication before he was sat in the chair!!

a PRoper examination by a psychiatrist showed he wasn't depressed and never had been. (there was also some reference to gp's not having enough time to investigate proprerly)

he has a personality disorder...he was abusive and hid behind the 'depression' card.

I save my anger for those with prejudice.

The worker at the surestart centre, who does not understand that postnatal depression and child protection are totally different things. I was told that nowadays health visitors only do child protection work.

Yet my health visitor sees me as I had such severe postnatal depression seven years ago. I did not tell the surestart worker that I see my health visitor on a regular basis. I think she would be shocked. My children are healthy, clean and happy.

The employer or insurance company who asks intrusive questions that are absolutely irrelevent to the job/ mortgage application.

People like my mother who think that people who have suffered mental illness should never be allowed to hold down a responsible job, however well recovered they are or whatever the condition they had in case "they turn violent".

We need to save our anger for those ho deserve it.

One thing I hate perhaps I have common ground with OP here is if I'm having a tough time with some problem. So I end up laying it all out (typically I'm actually desperate enough to consult strangers on the Internet ), in which case to be succinct and candid I am very blunt about my assessment of the situation and my own feelings/thoughts ... and often people respond with "You sound depressed."

By which they do mean clinical depression. And it really hacks me off. Because I know that I am "down" about a specific problem, not because I have a gloom hanging over me and everything in my life. Also, it's the idea that you aren't supposed to be unhappy about circumstances whereas I think it's normal to have mood swings in response to LIFE. Me being called 'depressed' in my occasional situations that does feel like an insult to people with true clinical depression.

lljkk reactive and clinical depression are different things, even though there is often strong over lap.

For example seven years ago I decided that life was so awful, that I stopped eating. Infact there was nothing seriously wrong with my life at all. I have a good husband, a nice house, gorgeous children and nothing to be unhappy about.

It was an illness and trying to be logical is pointless. Its like trying to explain why seven years ago I thought that formula was rat poision. I was seriously ill rather than evil. It was in no way my fault and there is nothing I could have done different.

I think that many people do not realise the seriousness and the debilitating affects of mental illness.

the distinctions between depressions eg major/minor and reactive/endogenous aren't so often used now.as it inadvertently created a false distinction between some depressions.and inadvertently became stigmatising