Say the Word, a Psychology of Power

Say the word. Suicide. Say it aloud. Say it more than once. Say it until it sounds like any other word.  Our minds give words power, connotations, and destructive or healing qualities. Words, alone, can attack the body with symptoms of fear and uncertainty and, at the same time, be inexact and open to interpretation. What if you could rob a word like “suicide” of some of its isolating effect and control?  Words are serious business. What they represent – true or not – are real problems that need real solutions. Taking control of the power of words is one strategy that places the focus where it should be, on solving problems, on finding help instead of bolstering negative emotions and feeding into colloquial hype. Words also have the power to heal. I hear you. I love you. I understand. How do these short sentences make you feel? Try other words. Cancer. Heart attack. Kidney failure. Mental illness. Stroke. Addiction. Remission. Relapse. Depression. Cure. Alcoholism. Disease. Bipolar. Diagnosis. Do all of these words make you feel the same way? Why or why not? Sometimes, the power of a word, along with what has actually happened, robs us of speech entirely. There are no words. That is usually a temporary condition, but it is one that is indicative of how much authority words can have over us. When we are driven to seek out a word, to learn about it, to say it and find or give support, the power can shift until we can think and decide what it means to us. At that point...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Communication Stigma Suicide crisis Power of words Semantics Source Type: blogs