These days, terms like ‘toxic’, ‘gaslighting’, and ‘triggered’ are used as daily slang. Is it awareness or a threat to mental health?
Recently, Ananya Panday spoke on a reality show about how Gen Z are talking openly about feelings and embracing mental health. To that, Farah Khan responded, “They are embracing it a bit too much, and whenever they want to get out of something, they say it’s a mental health issue.” Ananya added, “Eventually, a balance will be found.” Now the question is, how?
The older generations rarely delved into what mental health is and suffered silently, while Gen Z is really trying to examine it so deeply that they are suffering even more!
Terms like gaslighting, trauma, triggered, and toxic are therapy speak. Mental health professionals originally developed such lingo to describe behaviours, diagnoses, or emotional experiences within a clinical setting. However, this language has now migrated into popular culture, self-help books and social media.
While it can improve emotional literacy, therapy-speak is often characterised by the vague, superficial or oversimplified use of clinical concepts.
The contradiction of awareness
Social media platforms and meme culture have normalised mental health discussions. The growing influence of self-help content has also played a significant role. However, just because something feels relatable doesn’t necessarily mean it provides a real or complete answer.
Aabharna Sudekar, Psychologist and Counsellor, believes that on one hand, therapy speak has made psychological ideas more accessible, helping people recognise patterns that they might not have had words for before. However, she added, these terms are often used out of context, leading to oversimplification, self-diagnosis, or mislabelling others.
Sharing an example, she said, “The word toxic is used so commonly nowadays that if we disagree with someone, we label them as toxic, consider it as a ‘them’ problem and take no accountability for our actions, which might also affect the relationship dynamics.”
The explosion of mental health awareness in popular culture has created a complex landscape. Sreyosi Ghosh, a journalism student from Delhi University, believes, “While Gen Z has reduced stigma by discussing issues like anxiety and depression, the casually repetitive use of terms like ‘depressed’ or ‘toxic’ often blurs the line between clinical conditions and everyday emotions.”
Many people self-diagnose without seeking professional help, relying on social media validation. -Sreyosi Ghosh.
How social media is responsible
Social media works based on an algorithm that boosts human emotion, polarisation and misinformation. Algorithms promote content that generates rapid engagement, which tends to be sensational and exploits human minds.
Serious information is oversimplified and fit into compact 60-second videos, creating an illusion of quick learning. Everyone is an expert now, thanks to the ‘influencer culture’, which is a major reason for the popularity of therapy speak.
Nilopriya Maitra, a psychology student from Calcutta University, observed, “While therapy language on social media is definitely increasing awareness, the impact depends on how responsibly and accurately you use it. These days, teens facing little mood changes are identifying themselves as having “depression” and using mental health issues as a modern flex.”
Meanwhile, Namrata Jain, a psychologist and relationship expert, shared, “We are seeing a rapid dilution of mental health concepts. Not every disagreement is toxic, not every discomfort is a trigger. When everything gets labelled, we lose the nuance that real human relationships require.”
She also raised another important concern – the pressure to ‘heal’ in a socially constructed way. “The ‘aesthetic of healing’ is starting to replace the ‘labour of healing’,” she said, noting that the process is increasingly being reduced to how it appears rather than the effort it actually requires.
Therapy is slow, uncomfortable and deeply reflective; it’s not always Instagram-friendly. -Namrata Jain
The thin line
The rise of therapy speak reflects both progress and distortion. Yes, mental health conversations are more visible and loud, but at whose cost? Are those really in need of support, feeling truly seen and heard? Or are we simply creating an echo chamber where ‘trendy’ labels replace deeper engagement with real struggles?
To strike a balance, we must recognise that awareness is only impactful when voiced with responsibility and informed understanding. We must engage with mental health more critically, valuing professional guidance and resisting self-diagnosis based on performance.
Views expressed by the author are their own.
