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!
Absolutely Hook. It's a really thoughtful answer. And you make some good points. I just wish my autistic brain would stop getting so hung up on words! But, as you and others have identified, there are more serious sides to it. People with actual mental illnesses have not seen any improvement in their care or treatment as a result of the watering down of the meaning of mental health or the dumbing down of discourse around mental illness.
Lol. Yep, in the discourse on mental wellbeing, it irritates me too when some folks say: "s/he has mental health", meaning that person has poor mental health or issues with their mental health or is mentally ill.
Everyone has mental health. We hope we have good mental health.
I'd agree there is a difference between poor Mental Health & Mental Illness in the sense the former could be temporary and the latter, something more permanent or long-term. For example, most people will experience anxiety or depression at some or various points in life and get better while others can be plagued with it for most of their lives, requiring help, treatment or radical life changes to manage or minimise it. Both are valid though and should be taken seriously just as physical illnesses are.
Diagnoses has it's place for sure but it really hurts my brain looking into this as there seems to be a diagnoses for everything and very often I find myself in a never ending field of Rabbit holes and the more you look into all the various diagnoses, and then look around you, it seems everyone on the planet could be diagnosed with something .
I think what's important is ; if anyone's mental health is causing suffering or if their lives are being negatively impacted by it long-term they should seek help and be given help right away, not in 3 months time or 2 years time. In this scenario, a diagnoses is probably beneficial for treatment or managing the specific condition/s tailored to each individual.
There is a danger that ' Mental Health ' can become a slogan or political football branded about to make-out they are actually doing something when in reality, services available are wholly inadequate, dismally out of date and actual ' Mental illness ' not taken seriously or ignored.
Yes I understand. I think it was borne from people trying to show that anyone and everyone can be mentally ill, to reduce the stigma about more stigmatised mental illness like schizophrenia. Unfortunately I don't think it has had the desired effect because I think it has pushed those people further away from what we consider to be "mentally ill" now.
Saying that though, perhaps we have been too restrictive on what mentally ill is and we have simply broadened the spectrum of what is possible.
If I get a bad cold or stomach bug, I still consider myself physically ill and don't worry about reducing the experience of people with cancer to something less than it is, or inflating my cold to be the same as their cancer.
I've lived with anxiety for a long time, labelled as "anxiety disorder" medically (although I want to question this since my autism diagnosis). I don't feel the need to be comparative about it because I'm not sure it would help me - I'd probably just berate myself for being pathetic compared to others with more severe mental illnesses. I can already see myself doing this with autism - am I really autistic "enough" compared to others? It isnt helpful to anyone.
I think we're in danger of straying off the original topic if we start to debate waiting times/delays or barriers to getting a formal diagnosis or the rights and wrong s of self-diagnosis. There is plenty to be said about that. But that's not what I'm concerned with here. I'm more concerned with the accuracy of the language that's being used. Mental health (a neutral noun phrase) which refers to the health of the mind, and how it has come to be used interchangeably with mental ill-health or mental illness. And how mental un-wellness has been conflated to encompass serious mental disorders/illnesses. For me, there is a world of difference between a low mood and bipolar disorder. More and more people don't mind claiming to have a mental illness for even the slightest fluctuation in anxiety or mood. I would describe this as having poor mental health, but I don't think it is accurate to describe it as a mental illness.
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...
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'.
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.