Diagnoses serve as both a label for suffering and a potential trap. They are not fixed truths but historical labels that evolve over time. Language plays a critical role in shaping perceptions of symptoms, influencing emotions and behaviors. Therapy often involves reframing self-perception and symptoms. For example, using the term 'depression' can pathologize normal sadness, while reframing it can validate experiences and lessen stigma. Similarly, new parents may be diagnosed with postpartum depression, but some may merely face normal emotional challenges after birth.
A diagnosis can be helpful—it can give a name to your suffering, open access to treatment, and create a sense of shared experience. But it can also trap you.
Diagnoses are not eternal truths; they are historical constructs, the latest in a long line of labels for certain human experiences. Over time, these names shift.
Language does more than describe—it constitutes. The words we use shape how we think, how we feel, and even how we behave.
Reframing it as sadness or mourning can validate the experience, restore its dignity, and remove unnecessary fear.
Collection
[
|
...
]