[enneff]

There’s a great episode of the Australian TV series You Can’t Ask That which interviews a group of OCD sufferers about their lived experience. It really opened my eyes to just how appallingly cavalier it is to refer to one’s minor neuroses as “OCD”. An excerpt from the show: https://youtu.be/tkrFgKW5LvY (Australians can stream it on iView)

[yannk]

Thanks for the link Andrew, it looks like a good show!

[coldtea]

Not all OCD is extreme though, even when diagnosed.

[enneff]

Agree but it’s an insult to people that actually have it when it’s used casually. Like “bipolar” or “schizophrenic” also.

[coldtea]

I see how it can be perceived this way, but I think it's because of the novelty of the condition (so people aren't used to it being casually used as much).

For more established conditions, we don't really feel that way, e.g. like, how:

"Turn the flashlight off, I'm going blind!"

"This jump scare gave me a heart attack!"

"Monday's make me depressed"

Are not really considered an insult to the blind, people with heart conditions, and the clinically depressed...

[enneff]

Being blinded is something many people temporarily experience without being “visually impaired.” Feeling depressed is something that everyone experiences, while they may not be clinically depressed. Heart attacks are similarly common; they are hardly a misunderstood phenomenon.

These things are not the same as misunderstood conditions suffered by a small minority.