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!
I like using the term mental health, because if I refer to someone as being mentally ill by saying "You're mentally ill" or "S/he's mentally ill" it gives off the impression that I am being mean and putting them down, and I suspect that's why people began using the term mental health in the first place, because it's neutral.
I don't understand. It doesn't mean anything on its own unless you add a qualifier, such as poor, good, or illness, wellness. How do you actually describe their mental illness? What words do you actually use?
I just use the term mental health, and if I was asking about someone's mental health, I would not use qualifiers, because heck if I know if that person has poor or ill mental health, unless they decide to tell me what's going on in their life. I can't just assume the status of their mental health, because I don't have the same mind as they do. I wouldn't know unless they've told me.
And I don't even know if that person would like me describing their mental health for them, as being "poor," or "unwell," or "ill," because they might find that I'm being judgemental and offensive, and that's my reason for not doing it.
But if I was talking about my own mental health, I would use all the qualifiers and descriptive words as much as I'd like to, because I'm just describing myself.
I'm going to use language that is suitable for me and what I'm comfortable with. This has nothing to do with winning and losing. Just like some people are fine with swearing, others are not. If you'd like more descriptive language because you find the term mental health to be too vague for you, you can choose to add qualifiers if you'd like to. I just described my reasoning for choosing not to, but you don't have to agree with it.
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia said:"Are you mentally ill or something?"
So the bullies win? We change our language to accommodate their bullying. Makes perfect sense.