Do Words Mean Anything Anymore?

We make and invent words to describe the world around us. But we also change the world around us because of the language we use. If “intrusive thoughts” are just “random ideas that pop into our heads” rather than “an upsetting symptom of a debilitating condition”, then we see the behavior of the mentally ill as a personal lack of control. If mental

is it mere coincidence that these terms move further away from their specific usage and towards a neutered, politically neutral meaning?

We have expanded our definitions of many clinical terms to include almost all normal human behavior, terms like intrusive thoughts and mania and dissociation (often misspoken as disassociation). We have confused “normalization” for “universalization” when it comes to clinical terminology, taking diagnostic criteria and symptoms and morphing their m

The transformation of “gatekeeping” is, altogether, relatively benign, if not a little frustrating. But many of these linguistic changes create actual harm, especially as many of our watered-down words relate to identifying and challenging power.