It is good that we are finally talking about mental health. A few years ago, therapy was something people whispered about, not posted on their stories. The conversations were hidden behind shame. Now, words like trauma, triggered, anxious, and boundaries float casually through Reddit/Instagram captions, reels, and relationship advice posts. And yet, somewhere in this wave of awareness, we have started drifting away from what these words truly mean. We have become so fluent in therapy language that it’s starting to sound performative like we are intellectualizing our emotions instead of actually understanding them.
The Overuse of Diagnosis:
It is great that people are learning psychological terms, but using them without context has become the new normal. Everyone seems to “have” something- ADHD, anxiety, PTSD, attachment issues and it’s often self-diagnosed through online lists or content creators. I once heard someone say they “have PTSD” thinking about their ex. What they meant was: it is too disturbing to recall. But that’s not PTSD. That’s just emotional pain and pain is not pathology.
There is a difference between being aware of your struggles and over-identifying with them. Diagnosis belongs in the hands of trained professionals, not social media filters or self-reflection posts. When we label every emotional discomfort as a disorder, we not only dilute the meaning of those terms but also unintentionally trivialize the experiences of those who actually live with them.
The Shield of Labels:
Somewhere along the way, these labels stopped being tools for understanding and started becoming shields against accountability.
- “I can’t help it, it’s my anxiety.”
- “I shut down because I’m traumatized.”
- “This is just how my ADHD brain works.”
It’s one thing to recognize patterns, but another to use them as excuses for not growing or being considerate of others. Self-awareness should lead to change, not self-justification. We expect people to understand our struggles but forget that they have their own. Nobody wishes to walk on eggshells or worse, emotional minefields around someone who refuses to take responsibility for their behavior because “that’s just how they are.”
AI Therapy and the Echo Chamber of Validation:
There is another quiet trend people using Chatbots as “free therapists.” It feels safe, it’s private, and it responds instantly. But here is the catch: AI is designed to reflect you, not challenge you. If you go in seeking validation, it will give you validation. It reinforces your logic, your version of events, your feelings without holding you accountable or showing you blind spots. That’s not therapy; that’s an echo chamber. They are like conversing with your inner voice-except it types faster and agrees more:) And the convenience of having an AI therapist at your fingertips only deepens that loop.
There’s a reason real therapy is structured the way it is one hour a week, or once in two. It gives you time to process, practice, and reflect between sessions. When help becomes too accessible, it also becomes addictive. Instead of building self-reliance, we start outsourcing every small emotional decision checking with the bot if we are right, if we are good, if we are justified. You almost stop using your rationality when you allow to feed your confirmation biases. Real growth happens in discomfort, not constant reassurance. AI can support reflection, but it can’t replace the constructive confrontation of a therapist who helps you face what you would rather avoid. They cannot yet observe the subtle changes in your voice or body language like a human does.
The Emotional Cost of Pop-Psych Culture:
The younger generation is growing up seeing mental health as a social identity something to display, not always to heal. Reels and infographics have replaced reflection. Therapy-talk is everywhere, but emotional intelligence (EQ) is vanishing.
- We talk about triggers, but not tolerance.
- We set boundaries, but forget empathy.
- We self-diagnose, but rarely self-reflect.
There’s a fine line between normalizing mental health and glamorizing dysfunction. When we overuse these terms, we unintentionally make genuine pain harder to recognize and easier to dismiss.
From Awareness to Accountability:
It’s time we reclaim the language of mental health not as hashtags, excuses, or personality traits, but as pathways to real understanding. Being self-aware isn’t about collecting labels and using them as a shield; it’s about learning, growing, and taking responsibility for the space we occupy in others’ lives. Mental health talk should make us kinder, not more defensive. It should deepen connection, not make others afraid to say the wrong thing.
Closing Note:
Awareness is important but accountability is healing:) If you want help turning insight into action, you can reach out to Dee-Cognito for thoughtful, evidence-based support.