Labels

Back in my day, the same people we now say have Social Anxiety were simply Painfully Shy.   When I was hospitalized for Dysthymia (a form of Clinical Depression), I explained it to my grandmother with the catch-all "Nerves".   So have we, as a society, become weaker or stronger?  Some say a medical diagnosis is better, that we've come to understand things better.  Others call it the rather vulgar "pussification" of society.  Honestly, I don't think it matters.

To me "She has Social Anxiety" isn't much different than "She's painfully shy".  Either way, it means I'm going to give her some space and let her deal as she feels best.  My grandmother went to her grave saying I had "Nerves" - a term that would cover a myriad of today's medical diagnoses.  They say hers was a simpler time, and at least in this area, they are right.  "Nerves" meant the person has trouble dealing with life, but that they weren't a danger.  Come to think of it, that would cover Social Anxiety...

Coloreds become Blacks become African-Americans, because for some reason the earlier terms become offensive.  (I am deliberately ignoring certain words, which were/are almost always used as insults.  I've known folks to use those words innocently, but they were rare - and usually ignorant.)

Political labels change, too, as the parties evolve.  The same party that fought giving the freed slaves rights after the Civil War is the one today championing their descendants. Theodore Roosevelt, the man behind the National Parks, belonged to the party that today puts money over nature.

I can't refer to myself as fat without people freaking out.  Guess what, folks?  I'm not quite five and a half feet tall and I average 200 pounds. You can use whatever label you like, but it has the same definition.

But I digress.  Why do we feel the need to update our labels?  My first example, I think, comes from the notion that a medical diagnosis is more likely to be respected.  Words are symbols, and maybe they become tainted by association with folks who use them cruelly, like the swastika and the Rebel Flag?