As a mental health professional, I love treating teens. But when I go home and talk to my own teens about their problems in middle school and high school, things get muddled in my brain.

She may not realize that using “depressed” to mean having a bad day helps equate the term with small and manageable swings in mood, and some depression sufferers can’t simply manage their mood swimgs. She may not understand that speaking this way increases stigma for those suffering with mental illness.