Beyond the Buzzwords: How to Talk About Mental Health Without Losing Its Meaning with Joe Nucci

The One You Feed

Eric Zimmer, The One You Feed

Education, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness, Religion & Spirituality, Buddhism, Mental Health

4.6 • 2.5K Ratings

🗓️ 28 October 2025

⏱️ 63 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, Joe Nucci explores what it means to go beyond the buzzwords and how to talk about mental health without losing its meaning. He explains how mental health language has become less useful as it’s gained popularity, and how clinical terms meant for specific purposes have drifted into everyday speech until they describe everything, and therefore, nothing. The words we use create the world we see, and once you start viewing yourself through a diagnostic lens, it can be hard to see in any other way. One of the most powerful takeaways from this conversation is that the value of a psychological term lies not only in its accuracy, but in its usefulness, and sometimes the language we use builds a cage instead of offering clarity. Exciting News!!! Coming in March, 2026, my new book, How a Little Becomes a Lot: The Art of Small Changes for a More Meaningful Life is now available for pre-orders! Key Takeaways: The popularization of mental health language and concepts. The phenomenon of “psychobabble” and its implications. The concept of “concept creep” in mental health terminology. The importance of accurate mental health diagnoses and their clinical usefulness. The balance between clinical accuracy and practical application in mental health discussions. The complexities of people pleasing and its underlying motivations. The overuse and misapplication of the term “trauma” in contemporary discourse. The distinction between normal emotional responses and clinical disorders. The role of language in shaping perceptions of mental health. The need for nuanced, context-sensitive approaches to mental health treatment and understanding. For full show notes,⁠ click here⁠! Connect with the show: ⁠Follow us on YouTube: ⁠⁠@TheOneYouFeedPod⁠ Subscribe on ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠ or ⁠Spotify⁠ Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ If you enjoyed this conversation with Joe Nucci, check out these other episodes: How to Harness Brain Energy for Mental Health with Dr. Chris Palmer Why We Need to Rethink Mental Health with Eric Maisel Insights on Mental Health and Resilience with Andrew Solomon By purchasing products and/or services from our sponsors, you are helping to support The One You Feed and we greatly appreciate it. Thank you! This episode is sponsored by: ⁠Uncommon Goods ⁠has something for everyone – you’ll find thousands of new gift ideas that you won’t find anywhere else, and you’ll be supporting artists and small, independent businesses. To get 15% off your next gift, go to ⁠UNCOMMONGOODS.com/FEED⁠ ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠: Post your job for free at linkedin.com/1youfeed. Terms and conditions apply. ⁠Persona Nutrition ⁠delivers science-backed, personalized vitamin packs that make daily wellness simple and convenient. In just minutes, you get a plan tailored to your health goals. No clutter, no guesswork. Just grab-and-go packs designed by experts. Go to ⁠PersonaNutrition.com/FEED⁠ today to take the free assessment and get your personalized daily vitamin packs for an exclusive offer — get 40% off your first order. ⁠Grow Therapy ⁠– Whatever challenges you’re facing, Grow Therapy is here to help. Sessions average about $21 with insurance, and some pay as little as $0, depending on their plan. (Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plans. Visit ⁠growtherapy.com/feed ⁠today! ⁠AGZ⁠ – Start taking your sleep seriously with AGZ. Head to ⁠drinkag1.com/feed⁠ to get a FREE Welcome Kit with the flavor of your choice that includes a 30 day supply of AGZ and a FREE frother. ⁠Smalls⁠ – Smalls cat food is protein-packed recipes made with preservative-free ingredients you’d find in your fridge… and it’s delivered right to your door. For a limited time, get 60% off your first order, plus free shipping, when you head to Smalls.com/FEED! No more picking between random brands at the store. Smalls has the right food to satisfy any cat’s cravings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	What we give up, I think, when we shirk the idea of diagnosis altogether, or like, these are just socially constructed or whatever people might say, is we're basically saying, okay, well, then all of the evidence, all the scientific evidence, all the clinical wisdom that has gone into studying and treating these things quite successfully a lot of the time, we're just going to kind of throw it out the window. And I think that's completely unfair.
0:27.7	Yeah. We're just going to kind of throw it out the window, and I think that's completely unfair. Welcome to the one you feed. Throughout time, great thinkers have recognized the importance of the thoughts we have.
0:34.5	Quotes like, garbage in, garbage out, or you are what you think, ring true.
0:39.3	And yet, for many of us, our thoughts don't strengthen or empower us.
0:44.3	We tend toward negativity, self-pity, jealousy, or fear.
0:48.3	We see what we don't have instead of what we do.
0:51.3	We think things that hold us back and dampen our spirit.
0:55.4	But it's not just about thinking.
0:57.4	Our actions matter.
0:58.9	It takes conscious, consistent, and creative effort to make a life worth living.
1:03.7	This podcast is about how other people keep themselves moving in the right direction, how they feed their good wolf.
1:11.6	I used to think that having precise clinical language for my internal experience would help
1:17.6	me navigate it better. Turns out that's only half true. Joe Nucci is a therapist who wrote
1:23.5	Psychobabble because he noticed something. As mental health language became more popular,
1:28.7	it became less useful. Clinical terms used for specific purposes turned into everyday descriptions
1:34.6	that ended up describing everything, which means that they describe nothing. Like, if everyone has
1:41.3	trauma, what does that word even mean? If we're all depressed when we're sad, what happens to people who are actually clinically
1:48.7	depressed?
1:49.6	The words we use create the world we see.
1:52.7	Once you start viewing yourself through a diagnostic lens, it can be hard to see any other
1:58.0	way.
1:58.7	One of the most powerful takeaways for me was the idea that the value
	...

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