WHY DON’T I USE THE WORD “DISORDER?”
If you are familiar with the anxiety problems described on this web site, you’re probably wondering what happened to the word “disorder.” Panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder. Aren’t these the proper terms?
By pathologizing these concepts, we often forget that worry, fear, panic and obsessive thoughts are universal, human phenomena. Because of the disease model, psychologists have focused their energy almost exclusively on people whose lives are impaired by anxiety.
But what about everyone else? The only people fortunate enough to learn the basic skills for mastering fear, worry, panic and obsessive thoughts are the subgroup of people whose lives are impaired and who are lucky enough to find a therapist with specialized training in anxiety management skills.
The best treatment is prevention. Some of you dealing with non-debilitating anxiety may one day find yourselves labeled with a “disorder.” By learning the skills now, that can be prevented. And prevention is much easier and less expensive than treatment.
People feel stigmatized by the word “disorder” and avoid learning the basic skills for universal, human problems. If these skills could be incorporated into the grade school curriculum and taught to children, imagine how many “disorders” could be prevented. And if coping skills could be taught in an appropriate setting to adults as well, these basic skills could become common knowledge.