Say What?
Crazy. My cousin has nearly wrung this word out of me, though I still use it on occasion; I just can’t help it. “Oh, my God, that’s just crazy,” I will say at times, catching myself only after the word has come out of my mouth.
When attempting to use the right words to describe both being a patient and having a diagnosis, there is so much to learn, not just in the mental health community but also in the disability community in general. I’ve had to familiarize myself with terms around disability language, such as inclusive language; person-first language; recovery-oriented practice; stigmatizing language…and I struggle to keep up, to use these terms when describing someone like me and how I want to be “labelled.” Because labels are at least two-sided. They can really help provide clarity, yes, but other times they can really hurt. Labels have potentially stigmatising powers.
I get a little annoyed (is that the right word?) when people with minor mishaps declare themselves as “so OCD,” “so depressed,” or “so bipolar.” These very descriptions can be thrown around in negative ways, labelling (usually female) people as “borderline,” “nuts,” and stronger ones like “insane,” “mental,” or just plain “disturbed.” And what to call a person with a psychiatric disorder? Patient, Consumer, Client, Survivor, or even, Service User? Using person-first language here seems to be helpful. “Person living with mental illness,” or “person with mental health issues.” Even “normal” people get a label: Typical.
Psycho, derived from the word psychosis, and even more, schizo, from schizophrenic, are two labels that really do bother me. I heard a guy on the radio the other day describing a situation as “totally schizophrenic.” That hurt. That felt personal.
I am learning as I go. The littler terms aside, it is important to remember: People are people, not their illnesses, not their diagnoses. Instead of saying “He’s schizophrenic,” or even just “He’s mentally ill,” we say a person “lives with mental illness.” And, to say a person suffers from depression, is a victim of anxiety? Come on, really? Victim and suffers? People don’t “suffer” from diabetes. It seems that those with mental illness are thought of in a more negative light than others with “physical” disorders. These words make it sound like the person with the mental illness is doomed to suffer for the rest of their lives, rather than possibly experience recovery, as so many do.
Words have power. And, they have been used in such hurtful ways when it comes to those who live with mental health issues. It is time we all start paying attention. Change will occur gradually—words will still surface and slip out, just like they do out of my own mouth. But I am trying. And I am glad I have my cousin to keep me on the path.