The Unseen Damage of Reckless Speech (Understanding the Power of Words)

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Words are powerful. It is one of the few things in life that not only can raise up and unify a nation, but also has the power to demean and segregate, and bring people to their lowest. In communication activities, both formal or informal, the impact and influence of words are not taken seriously especially when said in anger or with a wrong motive. However, wrong words once said in anger, ignorance, or without any thinking can hurt and have an impact on people for quite some time. To many, such words become emotional scars that create anxiety, self-doubt and in worse cases DEPRESSION.

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Understanding the impact of words

Mood is something that is easily programmed in the human brain and this is where words come in handy. This relation has an impact as negative words or harsh comments tend to elicit string of emotion. One may notice such comments and pay attention to them and when a friend, family member, or a role model makes a nasty comment about him/her, it impacts their sense of self. The adage “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” is problematic because words can indeed hurt, especially since one can get psychological injuries that stay with them for good even if the physical ones don’t.
Words can linger in the mind long after they’ve been said, playing on a loop especially in the head of a vulnerable person. These include; “You are useless” “You will never amount to anything,” “nobody loves you” among others. When repeated, either by others or by the person themselves, they give a reinforcement to feelings of inadequacy and hopelessness. This mental and emotional wear can eventually push someone to depression, where one becomes sad, hopeless and develops low self-esteem for prolonged period of time.

A REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE

I have learnt that it is very bad to give negative words to people since they can easily change the course of their future.

At times I found myself receiving a chain of bad comments from a person whom I respected so much. These things were said to me by people who probably never intended to hurt me but consistently made me feel incompetent. They told me things like, “You are just wasting your time, it’s not like it will amount to anything,” and “What is even making you try?” The first time I dismissed it thinking they are simply having a bad day and it’s nothing. But as those remarks went on I began to accept them as truth. Their words stayed in my mind even when I had some minor accomplishments, “it is the mental part of self-doubt that decays a person” The internal conflict continually escalated between actuality and the repulsive words I let into my world, those wrong words slowly chipped away my confidence. I stopped going out often, I analyzed almost every decision I was making, and sunk deep into an emotional abyss. That is why I realized that people need therapy and support to restore basic self-esteem in society again.

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The Weight of Words in Social Media

Internet forums allow people to discuss issues without immediate eye contact and therefore aggressive rude comments are tossed around with great ease. One such example is cyber bullying, which is growing in popularity whereby people especially the young are on the receiving end of insults. Here, for a person who is already vulnerable, these words can be read over and over, causing them to be isolated at worse develop depression.
My experience with the situation and observations on how social media can contribute to this, A friend of mine once posted an artwork that is personal to him online expecting positive comments such as “Great job” or “Nice work” only for some of the comments to be like “This is a joke” or “You should stop embarrassing yourself”. What they said did not only make him reluctant to disclose future projects but also deteriorated his feeling of self-value which led him to develop depressive episodes.

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Breaking the cycle of Hurtful words

It is very easy to slip into using the wrong language and one of the toughest things to note is that you are already using abusive language; towards other people or even yourself. Many people use words inconsiderately thinking that their actions will not influence the lives of others, mostly when irritated or annoyed. However, they are indicative of how being a little more conscious of what we speak and how we speak it can avoid harm where it is not required.
Basically, if you have been offended by someone’s statement or if you are a person who has offended someone, the first thing that you have to understand is the impact those words can have. An apology can be sincere and far reaching, but what I believe can do a lot more would be to change the general tone of the focus of the discussion to become more supportive and compassionate in order to heal the harm.
What I have learned is that the unhealthy people that one associates with are destructive in their natural habitat. It also took some time to come to terms with the wrong words said but through time and positive statements the damaging potential of words can be won over with positivity and strength.
Encouraging Change and Awareness
These words are not mere instances of speech; they are energy and meaning which can positively or negatively impact on the physical well-being of a person. It is important to encourage people to be aware of this fact (in their interactions with others and on social networks). It is crucial that everyone becomes aware that words are weapons and that reckless use of it results to feeling pain, have mental problems and even get depressed.

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Thus, the process of healing must start with empathy and accepting people’s willingness to talk and express themselves without any anger or aggression. All of us should also know that words have meaning and that as much as we have the liberty to speak, we also bear the responsibility to be careful on what we say.

" Try to tame your tongue.....Don't send someone to depression because of that hurtful word "

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