I recently encountered a statistic that both amazed and troubled me: one in ten individuals ages 9 to 16 suffer from a mental health disorder that causes significant impairment and affects their everyday functioning. As a sixteen-year-old girl in a highly competitive school environment, psychological distress is something that surrounds me every day, even if it is often invisible. Our nation’s severe mental health crisis is personal to me because it is personal to my peers. Given this statistic, in my class of approximately twenty people, it is likely that at least two of my peers suffer from a mental health condition. Although these classmates may both experience symptoms of the disorder, evidence suggests that one of them receives treatment from a professional, and the other struggles alone in fear of being judged. However, disorders thrive in silence, and the dire need to destigmatize mental illness has become more clear than ever before. Amid increasing conversations about mental health and the ubiquity of disorders among young adults, teens have created a new “trend:'' casually self-diagnosing clinically significant disorders.

It is important to normalize not always feeling okay and to recognize the value of being vulnerable around others. Regardless of one’s age, gender, or mental health, everyone experiences a wide array of emotions every day. Although they may be uncomfortable, emotions are adaptive and a natural part of the human experience For example, physiological signs of anxiety (e.g., slightly elevated heart rate, sweaty palms) while taking the SAT could signal the need to focus and exert maximum effort to achieve success. Being conscious of these normal feelings and accepting them is crucial.

However, there is a significant difference between stating “I am anxious” and “I ‘have’ anxiety.” Every day I hear my peers say the latter, particularly in casual social settings. As I roamed through the halls of my school (pre-COVID), I constantly heard people claim that they were having a panic attack because of an upcoming test, had depression because they were disappointed by their performance on a test, or had OCD because they wanted to clean their locker. Experiencing uncomfortable emotions is now perceived as an indication of a mental health disorder.

Teens also encounter this language on social media platforms. For example, several users on Instagram have posted videos in which a sound is played, and the captions state, “if you hear a buzzing noise, you have anxiety.” This kind of content on social media platforms typically goes viral, as it has been used by teens as a way to validate or invalidate their feelings. If one hears a buzzing noise, they are in some way reassured that their anxiety is to blame for their feelings and the reason behind the problems they face. However, “hearing a buzzing noise” may also lead teens who experience normative and adaptive levels of anxiety to pathologize their emotions.

Even though this constant dialogue may seem harmless, it has consequences. Not only does casual self-diagnosis invalidate the struggles of individuals with clinical diagnoses, but it also prevents people from truly understanding the adaptive and fluid nature of emotions. When the public perception of mental health undermines and minimizes the pain and debilitating symptoms associated with mental illness, people who experience these conditions may not receive the interventions or accommodations they need.

The informal use of psychiatric language in teen communication makes it difficult to differentiate between a clinically significant mental illness and an adaptive emotional experience. Although conditions such as anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder have distinctive symptoms, they all have one underlying commonality: impairment in everyday functioning. If you are suffering and your symptoms are interfering with your life, it is important to seek out help and talk to a trusted adult, such as a parent, teacher, or school counselor. It is critical to share your feelings with those in which you have instilled the most trust; they are all there to support you.