We live in a time where communication has become louder but not necessarily wiser.
Our country’s deep socio-economic wounds - inequality, unemployment, trauma and disillusionment - have created a culture of constant frustration. Many people are angry, anxious and seeking validation or escape. Unfortunately, that pain often finds expression in the form of aggressive, careless communication, especially online.
Platforms that were meant to connect us have become battlefields of opinion. Thoughtfulness has been replaced by performance and empathy by sarcasm.
People speak before thinking, diagnose before understanding and condemn before listening.
This collective aggression is taking a silent toll on our mental health - not only for those who are targeted, but also for those who inflict harm. Because every time we dehumanize another person, something in us hardens too.
The Rise of Online Bullying - Even Among Adults
It is heartbreaking to witness how adults - parents, professionals, even those in healthcare or leadership - have joined the culture of online ridicule and bullying.
The same people entrusted with nurturing, healing or teaching in real life sometimes use digital platforms to tear others down, often under the guise of “opinions” or “humour.”
What this reveals is not strength or confidence, but a crisis of emotional regulation and empathy. When we insult, humiliate or mislabel others online, we are exposing the parts of ourselves that remain unhealed - the pain that has turned into projection.
Bullying, whether subtle or overt, public or private, can cause immense emotional and psychological harm. For survivors of trauma, abuse or mental illness, such attacks can trigger anxiety, panic, depression or retraumatization.
Yet, many of those who engage in these behaviours are unaware of the weight of their actions.
When “Opinion” Becomes Harm – The Dangers of Unqualified Diagnosis
In recent years, there has also been a troubling trend of people - including those with partial or theoretical training - publicly diagnosing others with mental illnesses. It has become common to hear labels like narcissist, sociopath, bipolar or manic used casually, without professional assessment or ethical consideration.
This is deeply dangerous. Mental health conditions are medical diagnoses, not personality traits or moral judgments. They require years of study, clinical supervision and ongoing professional practice to understand accurately.
Even those who hold academic qualifications but do not actively practice or specialise in mental health lack the full context and patient exposure needed for ethical assessment. Theory without clinical practice can easily distort understanding - and when shared irresponsibly, it harms real people. This is because in health - and especially in mental health - education always trumps opinion, and education combined with professional experience will always carry far more weight and substance than popularity, personality or public commentary.
The difference between an opinion and expertise can be the difference between someone getting help and someone losing hope.
A Call for Thoughtfulness and Responsibility
As a society, we need to rebuild emotional intelligence in our communication.
It starts with slowing down - thinking before speaking, listening before reacting and remembering that behind every screen is a real person with real emotions.
If you ever notice someone behaving in a way that concerns you, do not play doctor. Seek guidance from a qualified mental health professional - a psychiatrist, psychologist or clinical social worker - who is actively practicing and licensed to diagnose or treat mental health conditions.
If you are the one struggling, please remember that you deserve credible care, not public commentary. There is nothing weak about seeking help. The real courage lies in choosing healing over hostility.
We cannot build a mentally healthy society while normalising emotional violence. It takes collective responsibility to restore compassion, depth and dignity to our conversations - online and offline.
Let us move away from reactionary communication toward reflective communication. Let us value clinical wisdom over social clout, education over ego, and experience over entertainment. Because true awareness is not found in who speaks the loudest - but in who speaks with understanding.
Healing begins when we choose to think, to care and to speak with sincerity.