Do you really have a mental health problem – or is it just concept creep?

So, how can you tell the difference between “ordinary” low mood and depression, or between “ordinary” stress and anxiety?

Well, it’s not always easy to tell the difference – and it’s not always a clear-cut line dividing the two.

“I believe that we find it very uncomfortable to sit with and ‘be with’ any emotions which are not deemed by society as ‘positive’,” says Dr Susanna Petche, GP and specialist in Psychological Trauma. “So when we feel sad, grieve, worry, we tend to see these as ‘bad emotions’ when actually they make us human – our emotions are there to guide, warn us and help us. We tend to want to pathologise the ‘difficult’ emotions, to find a cause and label it as anxiety or depression and potentially seek to medicate (or self-medicate) to push these emotions down, rather than allowing and feeling them.”

Of course, there are some cases that really do need professional help. According to Petche, the main sign to look for is whether or not your emotions are impacting your “ability to function”. “If this really impacts your ability to function, then it is worth seeking advice from a health professional such as your GP,” she says. “In the vast majority of cases, talking to someone and making simple changes to their lifestyle, such as going for a walk outside, eating well, focusing on sleep, being around people who make them feel good and support them can make a huge difference.”

Concept creep: how our fixation on mental health might make us feel worse