What’s the difference?
The month of May is dedicated to raising awareness about mental health issues. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the narrative around mental health has changed dramatically. More efforts to normalise and decrease the stigma around mental health through conversations have increased. This is unquestionably an appropriate step in educating people, but what needs to be highlighted is the use of language and appropriateness of words to describe different emotions and experiences concerning mental health.
Language is the way we communicate with others. It helps us shape our inner world and experiences. Language helps us give meaning to our feelings, thoughts, attitude and behaviour. The kind of language we use has a powerful impact on our mental health and the way we view it. Understanding the differences between numerous mental health terms is an important part of learning more about mental health and the kind of language we can use. This is so that we can avoid using the wrong words to express what we’re going through while also understanding what they signify so that we can better recognise our conditions.
So, here are a few commonly misunderstood terms describing mental health conditions or words related to it and how they differ from each other.
Sadness versus Depression
Sadness is a human emotion that every individual goes through as a response to particular situations. It generally passes with time and you eventually attain relief once the situation resolves itself. In most situations, it does not affect your day-to-day functioning and you can do about your daily routine
Depression is a mental health disorder that can occur due to a stressful life situation, genetics or a mixture of both at the same time. A person with depression will experience sadness with a number of other symptoms such as tiredness, loss of motivation, decreased interest in activities, sleep and appetite disturbances, to name a few. They last for more than two weeks without any intermittent relief and the person’s day-to-day functioning will be severely affected.
What we need to remember the most is — sadness is an integral part of depression, however just sadness does not necessarily have to be depression.
Shame versus Guilt
Shame and guilt can occur together due to the same situation. However, there does exist a difference between the two. Shame generally refers to the feeling you feel towards yourself when you engage in some action or activity you would normally disapprove of. Guilt on the other hand is the feeling you feel towards another person or a feeling of responsibility you feel towards the consequences your actions have on another person. So the main difference is that guilt generally is focused on others whereas shame is focused on yourself.
Anxiety versus Fear
Anxiety and fear can occur at the same time but this does not mean that both terms are interchangeable. The difference between the two mainly is based on context. Fear, for instance, occurs when you are facing an obvious or known threat; for example, if you saw a spider on your arm. There is a clear and present object of fear and the fear you’re experiencing comes from the fear of being bitten.
Anxiety on the other hand occurs when you are facing an unknown or a poorly defined threat. For example, you are walking down a street at night and you sense someone following you, you’re not sure if the person has bad intentions or not. The anxiety arises from the chance of something terrible happening, and your mind conjures up a lot of negative scenarios that may occur.
Both anxiety and fear can lead to physical reactions like increased heartbeat, sweating, dizziness, chest pain, muscle pain and many more. However, knowing the slight differences that trigger the two can help you accurately identify what you’re experiencing in a given situation.
Anxiety versus Worry
Another word that constantly gets interchanged with anxiety is worry. Again, worry and anxiety can occur at the same time, but both are not the same as each other. Worrying is mostly a mental activity. When we say we’re worried about something, we’re usually referring to our thoughts or when we overthink something. Anxiety on the other hand manifests in both our minds and body. While we are anxious, we may be experiencing a variety of thoughts in our heads as well as physical sensations in our bodies.
Worrying in most cases does not affect our daily routine and is more situation-specific whereas anxiety can be more generalised. Here you may not be able to exactly pinpoint what is making you feel the way you feel; for example, going to crowded areas and parties make you anxious but you’re not able to pinpoint what about it makes you anxious. Anxiety in severe cases can even affect a person’s day-to-day functioning.
Flourishing versus Languishing
You are said to be flourishing when you are experiencing an overall positive psychological well-being. Here you are able to acknowledge and experience emotions and social relationships that help you attain wellness and fulfillment. The opposite of flourishing is languishing. Languishing is on the other end of the spectrum where there is an absence of mental well-being. Instead, you mostly feel hollow and empty.
Loneliness versus Aloneness
Loneliness is when you feel a sense of unease or discomfort that occurs when you perceive yourself to be socially isolated or without connection or relationship. For example, many of us may be lonely due to the lockdown as we can’t leave our houses to meet new people and maintain our normal connections.
Being alone has more to do with your physical space than it does with your feelings. In most situations, have chosen to be alone or you’re alone due to circumstances. For example, you could be alone because you’re living on your own in a distant place or you decided to go for a solo trip. Here, just because you’re alone it does not necessarily mean you’re lonely.
Wellness versus Illness
Wellness is when both your mental and physical state are in good condition. You are not only surviving but actively engaging in activities that can help you attain optimum mental and physical outcomes. Illness on the other hand is a period of sickness that affects the body, mind or both. Here you will have to take active steps to come out of the state of sickness or discomfort.
Mental Health Professionals — Who are they
When we seek help it is important to understand the kind of qualifications and titles mental health professionals hold. This can help us accurately choose the kind of treatment we want or need to get.
- Clinical psychologist: In India, a licensed clinical psychologist is someone who has completed their MPhil in Clinical Psychology and is specialised in diagnosing, conducting assessment and giving treatment for mental health disorders. They cannot prescribe any medications.
- Counselling psychologist: They require a minimum of a post graduation in clinical/ counselling psychology where they are trained to provide therapy (long term) and counseling (short term) for emotional, developmental and adjustment problems.
- Psychotherapists: They are specially trained in any one form of therapy and usually follow a single framework to help their clients with a multitude of concerns that they might bring in. Here, the duration of their intervention tends to be longer than counselling.
- Psychiatrists: They are medical doctors who have completed their MBBS and their MD in psychiatry. They can diagnose, prescribe medications and treat the biological aspect of mental health disorders.
When describing one’s mental health, there are several phrases that are regularly used interchangeably. Using the appropriate phrases will assist you in not just communicating your feelings effectively but also in accepting and admitting your mental health challenges. Taking the effort to learn these terminologies is one of the first steps toward increased awareness and better mental health.
“Mental health problems don’t define who you are. They are something you experience. You walk in the rain and you feel the rain, but you are not the rain.” — Matt Haig
Written by Maryam Hannan
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