Published on 12, July, 2020
I'm going to be pedantic.But I get sick and tired of hearing people use the term mental health as a synonym for mental illness. A mental illness is a specific mental disorder. And someone is mentally ill when they have been diagnosed with a specific mental disorder. Mental health describes the whole spectrum of possible states of mental wellness or illness; we all have mental health because we all have minds. In the same way we all have physical health because we all have bodies. Mental health is neutral and requires a positive or negative qualifier (good or bad) to correctly denote/describe someone's mental state. In other words, we can be mentally well or mentally un-well.
Now, on to the next point! Being mentally unwell is not synonymous with being mentally ill. Being mentally ill requires a diagnosis of (at least one) a specific mental disorder. If someone is physically out of shape, we wouldn't assume they have cancer, irritable bowl syndrome or any other medical condition - without a diagnosis.
I know I'm being pedantic, but it really hurts my autistic brain when people use language imprecisely. Also, it diminishes the legitimate struggles and experiences of people with diagnosed mental illnesses when everyday language is used casually and incorrectly in the place of specific terminology. Let me know what you think! And may everyone's mental health be good!
Ill or unwell mean the same thing where I'm from so I have no real issue with those words used interchangeably. I agree about mental health though.
Illness can be both short or long term so I also have no issue about it in that respect either, but I have a friend who has lived most of his life with depression and he gets really annoyed at people who say they feel "depressed" but are only feeling low for a short period of time. It bugs me when he says it though because it turns being unwell into a competition or hierarchy of Illness.
Yeah, I agree. I can see how ill and unwell have come to be used interchangeably in common language. But in reality, mentally ill and mentally unwell are not the same. Mentally ill refers to someone having a mental illness (like your friend's depression). Mentally unwell refers to the people who feel down for short period of time. They may go to see a Doctor and get a diagnosis, in which case their mental un-wellness is now a mental illness. It's a subtle point, but it would stop all those who try and lump being down in the dumps with being clinically depressed; or those who go from a good mood to a bad mood claiming they're a bit 'bipolar'.
Hmm does something change just because a doctor says so though? I work with a lot of people with dementia for example and many don't ever have a formal diagnosis but still have dementia. The system just makes it difficult sometimes for some people to receive a formal diagnosis. Autism is no different. Do you object to people self-diagnosing as autistic?
Previously I have been against reliance of self-diagnosis as you can get things wrong, but after seeing how long many people wait for an assessment for autism and the barriers in the way, I'm a bit less against it now. Especially when the diagnosis processes for these things aren't always particularly robust...
Pedantry and stubbornness are our autistic superpowers! Linguistic ignorance is our kryptonite!