Comments on: Clinomorphism: You Know Somebody Who Is Guilty of It!

By: Anxiety and anxiety: What’s the difference? — Anxiety, Panic & Health

Anxiety and anxiety: What’s the difference? — Anxiety, Panic & Health — Mon, 18 May 2009 22:02:16 +0000

[...] mental disorder into one found in daily life is so common that it even has a name of its own: clinomorphism. For example, the term “obsessive-compulsive” is often used in casual speech to describe [...]

By: I’m Dying: What a Panic Attack Feels Like — Anxiety, Panic & Health

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 02:23:33 +0000

[...] statements are inaccurate uses of the term “panic attack,” and are what are called clinomorphisms, or exaggerated use of a medical [...]

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:50:41 +0000

Psychologist E, thank you for the comment, and thank you for the correction. I simply took what someone else said at face value, rather than check the facts! I’ll do better next time.

What concerns me most about clinomorphisms is how they get in the way of people getting treatment for real symptoms. They misinform the public about valid symptoms, and cause sufferers to minimize what they are feeling, or to think that they can “snap out of it” as quickly as the “depressed” person whose only complaint is that their favorite tv show has been cancelled.

By: Psychologist E

Psychologist E — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:36:49 +0000

Actually, a lack of normal social skills are a symptom of both Autistic disorder and Asperger’s disorder. As for clinomorphisms, I agree totally. One of the more insidious ones is the common use of the phrase, “I am depressed” when a person is really only disappointed, sad, or blue. As you pointed our, while there are legitimate syndromes and conditions out there, we need to guard against pathologizing every normal variation in emotion.

By: Are You Having a Panic Attack? What Can You Do? — Anxiety, Panic & Health

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:22:51 +0000

[...] of panic attacks and the lack of real knowledge by the general public. This leads to clinomorphisms in which a person will exaggerate their symptoms and call it a panic attack, when all it is is a [...]

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 23:42:41 +0000

Unfortunately, clinomorphisms have become part of our everyday speech. Most people who use them aren’t intending to be cruel, or to increase the stigma against the mentally ill, but that’s what they are doing!

But it can be changed.

I grew up in the South in the 1950′s and 60′s. The “n-word” was used regularly with no thoughts behind what it was doing to African-Americans. But now the only time I hear it is in rap tunes. It took years of people being sensitive to how their speech hurt others, but it has been successful to a large degree.

The same thing can be accomplished with clinomorphisms. But, alas, I’m afraid that it will be a long time before people become more sensitive to the conditions and feelings of people with mental illnesses. The media would have to be the first to change, and they are not likely to do it any time soon — anything for a laugh line.

By: Chelle

Chelle — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 23:27:16 +0000

Wow, you really have an interesting point here that I had never heard or thought of before. There’s so many times people say this, and i know i can be like this sometimes too, but i’ve always kind of assumed it was me just being naturally insensitive and others being too melodramatic…i’m going to have to think about this a little!