While "normal" is largely subjective, there are ways you can apply the term objectively. For example, being mentally ill isn't the norm. Most people don't experience volatile mood swings or hear abusive voices in their head. What I have realised is that the "1" on the depression scale doesn't actually represent "happiness"; what it really means is that one is "content", which was a concept that was foreign to me when I was screened for depression the first time.

When people object to the word "normal" when I say that I'm not, I explain to them that there is a lot of room for "normalcy", that the mood spectrum is wide. It's when someone ventures on the outside of one of the two "normal" ends of the spectrum that we are talking about something abnormal - in other words, a mood disorder.

Imagine that a doctor tells you you have an abnormal cell growth somewhere in your body, or that your blood count is abnormal. Would you question that by saying, "Maybe this is my normal?" You wouldn't, would you? You wouldn't want to accept that you had a mass of cells in your body that wasn't supposed to be there. So why would you want to accept that you have abusive voices in your head when so many people are telling you that they are not supposed to be there?