A new year is here, coming in hot even though we’ve barely been above freezing temperatures in the past couple of weeks. Typically, people are thinking about new goals, projects, resolutions, and plans for the future. However, I prefer a slower, more gentle approach to ease into the new year, because even though it’s a fresh 365 days, we are still in the middle of winter, a season that I am convinced calls for early nights, unlimited cups of herbal tea, warm bowls of soup, and lots of rest. That considered, I will not try to propose any resolutions or tell you what to do. Rather, I will share five words that have been on my mind since 2024 that are commonly used in psychology, but most of the time, we hear or use them in the wrong context. What better way to start the year than learning something new from the comfort of our home and hopefully snuggled in a cozy blanket or with a pet sleeping in our lap?
1. Overstimulated: Maybe this is a word you’ve heard before, or maybe you’ve used it or actually experienced what it means. Sure enough, Merriam-Webster defines it simply as “excessively stimulated” (thank you, Sherlock). However, when used to describe a person’s experience, it typically means that they are overwhelmed with sensory input or stimuli. In other words, they are experiencing sensory overload. That is not the same as simply being overwhelmed. It is a sensory experience that can make it difficult for the brain to process information. Now, everyone can experience overstimulation, but this is an especially common (and unpleasant) experience for neurodivergent folks. Examples:
- I recently saw a TikTok video where someone said they “loved overstimulating their partner”, as they proceeded to act silly and playful with them in public. Given that there was no further context provided, I believe this person might’ve misused the word overstimulated, and instead could’ve used a word like “annoy”, “overwhelm”, “bother”, “tease”, etc.
- Someone who feels uneasy because the lights are too bright and they can hear multiple people talking at the same time and they can’t stand to feel the seam of their socks, is feeling overstimulated.
2. Dissociate vs. Disassociate: They sound similar enough, but they are not interchangeable. Simply put, dissociation is a complex and involuntary psychological process that involves a disconnection from one’s body, thoughts, emotions, memories, behaviors, or identity, and that can be a response to trauma or stress. There is lots to say about dissociation that will not be covered in this article, but the main takeaway is that it is involuntary. Disassociation, on the other hand, means to separate from certain elements of an experience voluntarily. For example, you can decide to not associate with certain people, beliefs, ideas, groups, etc. It is to voluntarily distance, separate, or disengage from something.
3. Antisocial vs. asocial: This is a common one, but the “a” vs. “anti” makes a big difference. The prefix “anti” means against or in opposition to something, and in this case, to be antisocial generally means to be against society. Merriam-Webster and Cambridge dictionaries mention being “hostile or harmful to organized society” and “harmful to society”. In a more clinical sense, it can refer to a pattern of behaviors that violate societal norms and disregard the wellbeing of others, and it is associated with Antisocial Personality Disorder. To be asocial, however, refers to a preference to be alone, hence the prefix “a”, which means “not”. To be asocial is to be “not social”, which is, most of the time, the right word to use when describing someone who does not want to engage in social interaction.
4. Triggered: Broadly speaking, a trigger is simply a stimulus that causes a reaction. In the physical and mental health world, a trigger can be something that brings on or worsens symptoms. In the specific context of trauma, a trigger is a sensory reminder of a traumatic event that reactivates memories and causes a person to re-experience the emotions, sensations, or reactions connected to said event as if they were reliving it in the present moment. Either way, a trigger in the mental health world is something that can cause extreme distress, whether it’s something that increases symptoms of PTSD, OCD, or another condition. It is not just something that causes discomfort, but something that can be detrimental to someone’s mental health state, hence the importance of trigger warnings on certain posts, videos, podcast episodes, etc. To say that you are triggered means that you are experiencing significant emotional distress, not that something made you upset.
5. Gaslighting: Gaslighting is a psychological manipulation tactic that causes someone to question themselves and their reality, and it is a form of emotional abuse used to attain power and control over someone. There’s also a lot to say about it, but the bottom line is that it is not just when someone lies to you, remembers something differently than you, or disagrees with you. As I mentioned, there is definitely enough to say about each of these words to write multiple articles and do more in-depth research on them, but the sole purpose of this article was simply to share them and their meaning so that we can use them properly in 2025.