Within the hour it took me to write this story I have said “I’m literally so depressed” 15 times. Honestly when I use that word, I don’t mean it in the literal definition. I use the word as an exaggeration to express that I feel at times discouraged from doing homework or studying for an exam.Earlier today I was talking to a friend. She forgot to turn off her alarm while in class and it went off during a test she explained that she felt depressed for the remainder of the exam.

But what she really meant was that she felt embarrassed or irritated with herself. She was in fact not depressed, and most of us are not.

That word has found its way into our common vocabulary and it must be terminated. Most people use the word and don’t even realize it.

It can take months, even years for doctors to accurately diagnose a person with a mental illness. It is not something one gets overnight, and each situation is unique. Depression doesn’t look the same for everyone who claims to have it, which is why it can be so tedious to treat.

It is clear for doctors to diagnose a patient with a broken bone. That can be done with the help of an x-ray to precisely show the location in which the bone is fractured.

The process is drastically different when it comes to diagnosing a mental illness, the process is best described as trial and error. There is brain imaging that can show the effects of the brain, but that is not used for diagnosis. There are also no blood or other lab test to show a mental illness.

Therefore, for people who do have depression, that process can be scrupulous and frustrating. I cannot imagine suffering from a mental illness and hear people constantly throw that word around casually, just to express that they had a hard day and once they go to bed the depression will suddenly all go away.

There is also no actual medicine that cures depression, those suffering from depression are afflicted by it every single day.

Being sad is a normal human emotion. The condition of being sad is triggered by challenging, hurtful or difficult situations. It is a situational feeling, meaning when something changes so does our emotion and the current feeling is now remitted.

Being depressed does not require a situation, it is the way you feel about everything and does not demand a difficult event or a trigger. According to Depression.org, people who are truly depressed do not know they are depressed until someone else notices.

It is astounding to me that people who are realistically depressed feel that way every single day, to the point that it feels normal.

Depression is not a joke. People who understand mental illnesses know that it should not be taken lightly. The next time you hear someone use that word, inform them to think more carefully about the way you feel and the word that it relates.

So, for those of you including myself that casually use the word “depressed” please stop. You are not depressed, you are most likely tired or sad at the moment.

And for those of you who do understand mental health speak up. This is not a game people really do suffer from this and must deal with every single day, there is no escaping.