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Language We Should And Shouldn T Use When Talking About Mental Health

Leo Migdal
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language we should and shouldn t use when talking about mental health

This article contains references to suicide. As humans, language is our foremost method of communication. It is how we connect, share our thoughts, emotions, and our experiences. Both verbally and in written form. And this gives language power. The words we use are impactful.

They can be liberating, uplifting, and inspiring. But equally, they can be harmful. It is for this reason that we need to be aware of the language that we should and shouldn’t use. Sometimes, it has a larger effect than we may initially comprehend. No matter how aware you are, and how sensitive you are to the feelings of others, the reality is that we don’t always use the correct language when we talk about sensitive topics. When it comes to mental health, several words and phrases have become ingrained into our daily vocabulary based on dated misconceptions of mental health.

While society has come a long way from these damaging views of mental health, and we now often don’t mean any ill-intent by these language choices, the use of this vocabulary can still be... This content mentions suicide or suicidal thoughts, depression, eating disorders and personality disorders. Please read with care. There are details of where to find help at the bottom of this page. Perhaps it is not surprising that an area of health that has been systematically stigmatised for so many decades has historically settled for a discriminatory lexicon. Generations of people have grown up in societies that found terms like “psycho”, “schizo”, “loonie”, and “crazy” perfectly acceptable.

Stigma is not only an element of mental health, of course, but the extent to which it has permeated our language, compared to any other area of ill-health, is astonishing. Many would argue that it is practice and not language that matters. But words are a barrier to help-seeking and a motivator for making discrimination acceptable. It can be a provider of a context for many people, which further entraps them in a vicious cycle of thinking that they’re suffering from “something” that they really shouldn’t be – or worse,... Person-First means using language to recognize a person’s experience with mental health as only part of them as a person, and not the whole. “Person living with schizophrenia.”“My brother living with OCD.”“She is a person recovering from addiction.”

“A schizophrenic.”“My OCD brother.”“She is an addict.” Practice normalizing what someone is going through and not minimizing, downplaying, or judging their experience with mental health. When we normalize these experiences, we can help people open up more. “It’s understandable to be feeling down with everything going on.”“What you’re going through is challenging.“ Words matter. The language we use day to day when talking about mental health can either uplift our communities or unintentionally cause harm.

A few simple shifts in how we speak — both in everyday conversation and public communications — can make a big difference in supporting people living with mental illness and breaking down stigma. Here are some examples of what to say and not to say when referencing mental health or mental illness in our daily lives Let’s stop defining people by mental illness. Mental health conditions and mental illnesses are something a person experiences or lives with — they are not who the person is. To combat this, use person-first language when speaking about someone who is experiencing or living with a mental illness. Let’s be more kind and accepting and stop spreading toxic positivity.

Several general terms used to describe mental disorders are understood by most people to have similar meanings, according to a new study published in BMC Psychiatry. However, with specific mental disorder concepts and terms, the study found some differences between public perceptions and the descriptions in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuu56a5l of Mental Disorders (DSM). The DSM is the handbook published by APA and used by healthcare professionals in the U.S. and much of the world as the authoritative guide to the diagnosis of mental disorders. The latest edition is the DSM, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5TR), published in 2022. See more on the DSM.

Concepts and classification of mental disorders have been the focus of significant attention, but how the concepts and terms are understood by laypeople, the study authors note, has received much less attention. Researchers Jesse S. Y. Tse and Nick Haslam, Ph.D., with the University of Melbourne, examined public perceptions about various general labels for mental disorders and found that “mental disorder,” “mental illness,” and “mental health problem” were viewed with... “Psychological issue” was viewed as encompassing a broader range of conditions. The study involved a nationally representative sample of 600 adults in the U.S.

Subsets of participants were asked to review and make judgments about vignettes describing people with mental disorders. The vignettes covered 37 DSM-5 disorders and 24 non-DSM phenomena. Examples of non-DSM conditions examined in the study include character flaws (such as recurrent cheating and jealousy); bad habits (such as procrastination and social media disorder); and medical/neurological conditions (such as migraine headaches and... DSM-5 conditions included disorders from each of the 19 broad categories (such as depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, dissociative disorders, bipolar and related disorders). Each vignette was two to five sentences long describing an unnamed fictitious person who might or might not have a mental disorder. Demographic information was only included when necessary as part of the diagnostic criteria.

When looking at perceptions of disorders in relation to definitions in the DSM-5, Tse and Haslam found “some significant points of disagreement between professional and public understandings of disorder, while also establishing that laypeople’s... We want people to talk about mental health often. The more awareness about mental health, the more chance there is of helping people who are experiencing challenges associated with mental illnesses. If you feel unsure about what language to use when talking about mental health, you are not alone. We are here to help you navigate these important—and potentially life-saving—conversations. While there are specific terms and phrases to avoid when speaking about mental illness, there are some general rules that can help you choose your words more carefully.

Avoid: Choosing our words carefully is about more than avoiding stigmatizing terms. The language we use can also have a positive, empowering effect, which makes choosing the right words just as important as avoiding harmful ones.

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