Depression, Anxiety, Trauma and Buzzwords

Life is a bitch, right? Has it seemed extra bitchy to anyone else lately? If it isn't a global pandemic, it's housing issues or inflation, or maybe just generally feeling like the world is going straight down the tubes.

The proliferation of mental health trends in social media can be confusing to decipher. How is anyone supposed to know if they are clinically "depressed" or "anxious"? Doesn't everyone have "trauma" of one kind or another? If you haven't been "triggered" by anything lately, you can spend some time wading through the quagmire of social media and see what comes up.

On the one hand, I'm delighted that mental health issues are getting the visibility that can save lives. Depression, anxiety, trauma and therapy are no longer words we whisper to each other, filled with shame and guilt for being "weak" or "different". Weird. Other.

On the other hand, there are valid concerns around the trendiness of specific disorders, and questions around the validity of information available in places like Instagram and TikTok. Everyone feels like crap sometimes, right? That doesn't mean you're "depressed", does it? Being nervous about presenting to a huge audience doesn't mean you're "anxious", right?

As the pendulum swings from shame to awareness, there are some pitfalls to avoid and hurdles to jump over. We need to be aware of how the algorithms can lead us to believe that everyone feels just like this, by showing us consistent material that supports things we've hovered over on any given app. Looking for a new pair of pants? Be prepared for an avalanche of advertisements, posts, and (shudder) influencers that are ready to tell you all about pants.

These techniques, amplified by social media and the connectivity of all of our technology ecosystems, work in concert with our desire to be reassured that we are right about things. Selection bias, if you're wondering, is the technical term for our pattern of choosing input that is in line with what we already think to be true.

Thankfully, there are clinicians available to help us figure out what the hell is going on, and help us sort through the miasma of information. Before you diagnose yourself, a chat with a professional can help illuminate the answer to the eternal question. Are you depressed, or surrounded by assholes?