Stop Calling Everything Trauma: The Impact of Concept Creep on Mental Health Language

In 1889, Hermann Oppenheim used the term traumatic neuroses to describe several psychological conditions thought to be the result of exposure to severely disturbing, shocking, or emotionally agonizing events, including the devastation and death people may witness during catastrophic natural disasters (Efstratiou, 2010). 

Just under 100 years later, in 1980, post-traumatic stress disorder became officially recognized as a mental health diagnosis. The diagnostic criteria include exposure to “actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence” (American Psychiatric Association, 2022).

A person who experiences this directly, witnesses it happening, is repeatedly exposed to aversive details (think first responders), or learns about the violent or accidental death of a close family member would meet the exposure criterion. However, exposure does not always mean a person will develop PTSD. 

Today, many people broadly refer to trauma as any unpleasant or distressing experience. A quick search on social media reveals hundreds of posts and videos discussing trauma. O’Connor et al. (2025) analyzed TikTok videos and found that trauma was most often described as a childhood adversity or relationship difficulty.

How did we shift from catastrophic, life-threatening events to an argument with a partner? 

Haslam (2026) refers to “concept creep” as the broadening definitions of mental health concepts, a process that risks the trivialization of mental disorders. Think about it. How many times have you heard someone say, “I’m a little OCD about this.” “I’m having an ADHD moment.”

I recently had a young person share with me, “My boyfriend broke up with me, it was really traumatic.” While a breakup is certainly distressing for many people, it is not generally traumatic. Watching your coworker bleed out while trapped under a beam you can’t lift after an earthquake— that’s traumatic. 

Expanding the definition of mental health concepts to label everyday experiences downplays the challenges of those who have experienced trauma, especially those who then suffer from acute stress disorder or PTSD.

PTSD is a serious mental health disorder that creates significant challenges for those experiencing it. The stress of a breakup is not equivalent to nightmares, flashbacks, prolonged psychological distress, intrusive thoughts, and significant functional impairment that can accompany PTSD.

Before a barrage of defenders descends on me, I want to recognize that distressing events are not unimportant. They are not pleasant for the person experiencing them and they may warrant emotional support. Your childhood adversity, the times your mum yelled at you, kids made fun of you in class, and the time you were the last pick for dodge ball probably influence how you perceive the world today. Your bad relationship with your boss, the argument with your best friend, and the recent death of your beloved pet are definitely upsetting experiences.

Adversity and distress are not the same as trauma.

Language matters. Precise language can help us better understand and support people. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (n.d.)  provides useful distinctions:

Adversity: A difficult or unpleasant situation.

Distress: A feeling of great worry or unhappiness; great mental pain.

Trauma: A mental condition caused by severe shock, stress or fear, especially when the harmful effects last for a long time.

If you experience adversity and find it difficult to cope, I encourage you to find a counselor, use employee assistance program resources, look for peer support groups, or phone a friend. It can help you get through a difficult situation, connect with people experiencing similar circumstances, and provide you with tools to help you the next time you face a challenge. Your well-being is important, and building resilience is one of the most valuable skills you can develop.

For the sake of those experiencing serious psychological symptoms, let’s be intentional about using mental health concepts to describe everyday experiences. Concept creep risks further marginalization and isolation of people who already experience high levels of stigmatization.

Taking distress seriously does not require us to call it trauma.

We can acknowledge that adversity, grief, relationship problems, and other painful experiences can affect us while still preserving the distinction between distress, traumatic experiences, and trauma-related disorders. Precision doesn't minimize suffering—it helps us understand it.

References

American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.).

Haslam, N. (2026). Concept creep and the mental health crisis. Social Issues and Policy Review, 20(1), e70007. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.70007

Efstratiou, S. (2010). Introduction of the term “trauma” in psychiatry. Annals of General Psychology, 9(Suppl 1): S235. doi: 10.1186/1744-859X-9-S1-S235. PMCID: PMC2991931.

O'Connor, C., Brown, G., Debono, J., Suty, L., & Joffe, H. (2025). How trauma is represented on social media: Analysis of #trauma content on TikTok. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 17(Suppl 1), S132–S138. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0001792