How does Foul Language affect your Mental Health

Recently I was at one of my cousins house and noticed he was cursing a lot and it was a normal thing he was used to saying. I then got curious later that week and looked up if language has an effect both positive or negative on mental health.

For the most part humans are programmed to seek pleasure and avoid pain. They want to repeat pleasurable and emotionally satisfying situations. Based on the same pleasure principle, So if a person has been using profanity in a normal living situation it becomes normal for them to use this language in any situation. Image shows stressed out individual with the words” be mindful while talking” in bold

So language is used for many things, like verbal self defense. And according to the research at the National Library of Medicine, profanity can be used as a verbal defense mechanism and this word usage can lead to either a high or low self esteem depending on the person and how they perceive the situation. 

Depression vs. Anxiety And the Effects of Poor Language 

Depression and anxiety are common mental health conditions that can overlap and share some symptoms. However, they have distinct characteristics and require different treatment approaches. Sigmund Freud proposed a concept of the unconscious related self-defense mechanisms which are considered as the counter forces that activate in reaction to anxiety and negative feelings.

Depression can be seen in both youth and adults, both in men and women. Depression can result in mood disorder characterized by persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, loss of interest, and changes in sleep, increased or decreased appetite, and energy levels. Depression can come on at any time and is a result of something that severely affected your mental health in some circumstance. Depression, unlike anxiety, can go away and come back. So just hearing the wrong word at the wrong time could trigger that reaction of anxiety or low morale/self esteem.

For instance words like damn, shit and, hell, can be used in casual conversations but the intent is completely different then in aggressive argumentative conversations. Basically tone is a key element when it comes to using foul language, and how you come off can really dictate how a conversation is. 

Anxiety is more of a lifelong issue everybody suffers from. You could be completely mentally stable but still be nervous about something. Anxiety is a common and natural emotion characterized by feelings of worry, fear, nervousness, and unease. It’s a feeling not a disorder like depression. People with anxiety are more likely to be triggered by foul language as it strengthens their ability to relax. Picture that your trying to relax, you feel the breeze, you hear the soothing sounds of nature. But then you're being interrupted by a fog horn. That’s what it’s like when foul language is being heard by someone struggling with anxiety it creates emotional tension.

   Foul Language in a Family 

            Foul language can also affect the emotional state of a family. Like the old saying “see monkey do.“ The parents are role models and how they choose to act and say reflects on their children's actions. So when I heard my uncle say that “that shit doesn’t go in there ” a couple of hours later I heard my seven year old cousin say a similar thing in a restaurant. It’s a standard that most families now ignore because it’s become so normal. I’m not saying that I don’t swear I’m just acknowledging how there's a time and place to say these types of words.

      Foul language can negatively affect family dynamics by engaging in an environment of disrespect, potentially leading to emotional distress and difficulty in communication, and modeling poor behaviors for children.  Children say words that they know are inappropriate or offensive and that will leak into their personalities. What comes out of your mouth can cause you to feel that way even if you don’t believe 100 percent of what you say. According to the National Library of Medicine, “repetition is crucial in implanting what we think and say,“ so repeating what we say can have positive and negative effects on our thoughts depending on the words we use. 

Damaged Communication

      Of course foul language can impact how we communicate, it's just that simple. communication is key when it comes to using such words. You must understand how your audience may react to certain words and phrases. When I was at the restaurant with my family, and my cousin said that word shit, it was kind of a bad look on not just him but the whole family. Poeple associate any bad behavior with the parents. How we communicate is a two way street, because communication involves the two or more people. So if those two parties are well connected through communication it results in misinformation. Foul language can impact communication which can immediately leave a bad taste in the mouth to peers and bystanders.

Language and The Effects It Has On a Person’s Ego

       Foul Language can be a stimulating trigger openly asking for bad behavior. Once a person engages. Pre teens and swearing affects how they look at themselves, it becomes a thrill to say the word just out of spite. Foul language is motivation to someone's ego. It brings out this sense of entitlement and self worth. The person in question thinks if  I can say it then I know I’ll get a response from somebody. Basically bating nearby people to speak up to you. Why do people use these words, surprisingly it all comes down to insecurity and the need to be recognized.

    Swearing can also lead to peer pressure in young adolescents. If they see other peers saying certain words, it will lead to the need to say the same things. This is deemed the fear of missing out, meaning if your friends do something, you automatically will feel the urge to participate in such activities. 

image shows stressed out individual with the words” be mindful while talking” in bold

• ARR.MS.ID.555595.pdf." Juniper Publishers, juniperpublishers.com/arr/pdf/ARR.MS.ID.555595.pdf.

• "PMC10171984." PubMed Central (PMC), National Institutes of Health (NIH), ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10171984/#:~:text=The%20current%20study%20has%20found,who%20scored%20higher%20on%20profanity.

• Pinker, Steven. "The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature." Steven Pinker, 2007, stevenpinker.com/publications/stuff-thought-language-window-human-nature.

• "Using Swear Words in the Workplace: The Impact of Swearing on Organizational Culture." rabble.ca, rabble.ca/columnists/using-swear-words-in-the-workplace-the-impact-of-swearing-on-organizational-culture/.

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