Related, but not the same

10 medical terms you use often, but not always correctly

Published on November 12, 2026

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Is experiencing emotional discomfort the same as experiencing trauma? What does it really mean to be anxious? Specialized terms from all areas often find their way into everyday language.

Medicine and psychology are no exception, but the real meaning of these terms doesn’t always translate fully into informal language. Here are 10 medical terms that we use often, and what they really mean.

OCD

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A marked preference for neatness or a very structured personality is not enough to claim "being OCD." Medically, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, or OCD, is a chronic mental health condition, in many cases highly debilitating.

OCD can affect several aspects of a person’s life, ranging from suffering from distressing intrusive thoughts to feeling completely out of control, to having compulsive behaviors or routines.

Narcissist

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We are sometimes quick to label selfish, attention-seeking, or self-centered behavior as "narcissism," but as a diagnosis, "narcissism" describes a pathology that goes beyond that.

Individuals with Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) lack empathy, feel truly superior to those around them, and demand constant admiration and preferential treatment, even when it comes at the detriment of others.

Trauma

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In its medical sense, there is more than one definition of trauma. It can refer to severe physical injuries such as deep cuts and wounds or broken bones, but also to the deep psychological response to an extreme situation.

While the everyday use of "trauma" is related to the psychological use of the term, it often applies to situations that, although stressful or emotionally taxing, lack the severity and the lifelong impact of a medically diagnosed traumatic episode.

Anxiety

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Here we have to make a distinction between feeling anxious and suffering from anxiety, because these two are quite different. Anxiety is a normal emotional response to stress, and it typically fades after the stressful event passes.

When this emotional response is constant and causes uncontrollable worry and fear, it goes beyond just "feeling anxious" and can evolve into an Anxiety Disorder that interferes with daily life and often requires medical diagnosis and treatment.

Burnout

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Many can relate to feeling exhausted and overwhelmed by responsibilities, work, or any other aspect of life, a feeling that is often described as "burnout". Medically, "burnout" is not a diagnosis, but a syndrome (a collection of signs and symptoms).

Typically resulting from workplace stress, "burnout syndrome" manifests as deep physical exhaustion, mental detachment from reality, and reduced efficiency at work or other personal tasks.

Acute

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The difference between the medical and everyday use of this term comes from a misconception of what "acute" really means. Medically, acute is the opposite of chronic, describing conditions that are sudden and short-lived, quickly progressing and resolving. While many dangerous and life-threatening situations might be acute, acute merely describes a timeline.

The common use of "acute", however, has only incorporated the meaning of something being sudden, interpreted as "critical", so we hear "acute" as a descriptor for severe, extreme, or high-intensity situations.

Placebo

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Medically, a placebo is something that resembles a medical treatment or substance but lacks its chemical effects, often used as a control in a clinical trial or as a way to help patients who don’t actually need treatment but need psychological reassurance.

This second use is the one that has transpired into everyday language, where "placebo" refers to anything that provides a sense of security or psychological comfort, but not a practical solution.

Anemic

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In its medical sense, "anemia" describes a low red blood cell count or a lack of hemoglobin, which lowers the amount of oxygen in the blood and can potentially have severe effects on the body.

People suffering from anemia often lack vitality and physical strength, which explains why it became synonymous with low energy, drowsiness, lack of enthusiasm, and even underperforming businesses and economies.

Toxic

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Toxic is a concept used in medicine and many other fields and describes substances that cause physical, chemical, or biological damage to living tissue, cells, or organs.

While this meaning is also present in the everyday use of the term, "toxic" is also used as a metaphor for emotionally harmful people, environments, and behaviors.

Introvert and extrovert

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We often see the terms "introvert/extrovert" as synonymous with "antisocial and shy/social and friendly", but this was not their original meaning. Introduced as concepts by psychiatrist Carl Jung, they refer to personality traits and how people regulate their brain chemistry and nervous system.

Neurologically, introverts tend to be quickly overstimulated, so they gravitate towards quieter environments with lower stimuli, while extroverts have more active nervous systems, which require more stimuli to feel satisfied and content.

Paints from the past

10 historical pigments with shocking and bizarre origins

Published on November 12, 2026

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We often assume that the past was a dull, washed-out world. But history has always been bursting with vibrant color, even if humanity had to take extreme measures to capture it. From crushing millions of tiny bugs to robbing ancient tombs and playing with dangerous substances, artists and chemists spent centuries inventing brilliant hues. Here are 10 pigments with surprising, strange, and sometimes terrifying origins.

Carmine

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The word carmine refers to a family of deep reds. Its origins trace back to tiny scale insects, Dactylopius coccus (cochineal scale), that feed on cactus berries. When European explorers reached Mexico in the 16th century, they discovered native populations producing reds far more vibrant than anything in Europe.

Harvesters collected the female insects, killed them, and dried them in the sun to extract carminic acid. It took roughly 70,000 insects to make a single pound of pigment. Today, synthetics have replaced it in textiles, but carmine is still used under names like "natural red 4" to color candles and cosmetics.

Egyptian Blue

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Dating back to the 3rd millennium BCE, Egyptian blue is the first known synthetic pigment in human history. Ancient craftsmen created this vibrant azure by heating quartz, copper, alkali, and lime to extreme temperatures.

This recipe was lost for over a thousand years before it was reverse-engineered in the 19th century. Interestingly, under modern infrared light, Egyptian blue glows with intense fluorescence, helping researchers scan archeological sites.

Imperial Yellow

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In ancient China, color was regulated by law to determine social status. Starting with the Zhou dynasty, yellow became linked with the throne.

By the Tang dynasty, laws strictly forbade anyone outside the imperial family from wearing garments dyed in reddish-yellow shades. Also, creating this prestigious color wasn’t easy. It was an arduous process that required harvesting massive amounts of Chinese foxglove tubers, grinding them into a paste, and finally staining fabrics.

Mauveine

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Many great breakthroughs are born from accidents, and mauveine is no exception. In 1856, an 18-year-old English chemist named William Henry Perkin was trying to synthesize a cure for malaria using aniline.

His experiment failed, leaving behind a sticky black residue with bright purple remnants. Perkin recognized the beauty of his accident and launched the world’s first mass-produced synthetic dye, sparking a global industry that changed fashion and art forever.

Mummy Brown

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Over the years, people have made plenty of weird choices in the name of beauty, but mummy brown is probably the creepiest. Popular among 18th- and 19th-century European painters for its rich, translucent shading, this yellowish-brown pigment was literally made by looting Egyptian tombs and grinding down mummified human remains and animals.

When artists discovered what their paint was actually made of, they were horrified. The practice finally ended in 1964 when the supply of preserved bodies ran dry.

Orpiment

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Alchemists and artists have always been fascinated by hues that resemble gold, but orpiment came with lethal consequences. This naturally occurring mineral features a fiery orange-yellow brilliance, yet it contains toxic arsenic sulfide.

Alchemists working in hot, unventilated labs would hang over furnaces heating orpiment to manufacture this golden pigment, poisoning themselves in the process. Despite the danger, master painters relied on its vibrant punch until safer cadmium and chromium alternatives arrived.

Pompeiian Red

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When archaeologists uncovered the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, they found stunning villas adorned with deep red frescoes. For generations, experts believed the color came from local iron-rich clay.

However, modern scientific analysis suggests that those red walls may have originally been yellow ochre. When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE, the intense volcanic heat cooked the mineral, transforming the yellow walls into the unique red we see today.

Prussian Blue

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Prussian blue was born in 1706 through a lab mishap. Johann Jacob Diesbach, a German paint maker, was trying to create red carmine, but a contaminated batch of ingredients caused an unexpected chemical reaction, producing a deep blue instead.

This accidental pigment later replaced expensive ultramarine for painters, and it also became the basis for the chemical process behind architectural blueprints.

Fun fact: Purified forms of Prussian blue are still used today as a medical antidote for heavy metal poisoning.

Scheele’s Green

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Invented in 1775 by Swedish-German chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele, this brilliant green is obtained by mixing copper, oxygen, and arsenic. Scheele’s green became a Victorian obsession, used in everything from children’s toys and dresses to patterned wallpaper.

Tragically, factory workers suffered horrific chronic arsenic poisoning making it. Even worse, when wallpaper made with Scheele’s green got damp, mould could release poisonous arsenic gas into the air (a phenomenon believed to have contributed to Napoleon Bonaparte’s mysterious illness and death in exile).

Tyrian Purple

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In the ancient world, purple was the ultimate symbol of wealth and power, often costing its weight in silver. Tyrian purple was especially prized because it resisted fading, but producing it required hard labor and cost marine life.

Derived from the mucus secretions of Murex sea snails, it took roughly 10,000 crushed snails to produce just a single gram of dye. The process left a foul stench along the Mediterranean coasts, so it was a color exclusively worn by emperors until modern technology finally figured out how to synthesize the exact same molecule using engineered bacteria.