Can we all make a change in the way we speak about mental illness? Just a small change: stop referring to it being paralyzing please. Debilitating is fine but I want to take back the word for it's actual meaning. Being a paralyzed person is frustrating on a completely different level. I would like to begin to take back the word, can we all get behind this and begin to change the lexacon?
Thanks
A request to the world
-
ghughes1980
- Posts: 299
- Joined: December 31st, 2012, 1:15 pm
- Gender: male
- Issues: Physical disability, mental disability, depression, anxiety, PTSD
- preferred pronoun: He
- Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Re: A request to the world
Hi ghughes. I agree with you in principle that language is important. To me, I would rather have a completely different term other than "mental illness" in the first place. Not everybody who suffers from something in the DSM-IV is "sick". We've all got different brains. Nobody's perfect. Most of us can function well enough a lot of the time, but suffer, and somehow know that we could be better. Neurodiversity seems to be a much kinder and more accurate term than mental illness for many of us.
In terms of your complaint about the word paralyzing, I do agree that certain terms are thrown around in such a way that they lose their meaning. However, it is true that a lot of people, particularly those with extreme anxiety and depression, do lose control of their lives to the extent that they are unable to do things that they want/need to do. Not everyone with mental illness is "paralyzed" in this way, but many people are, and the isolation and other consequences of that form a negative feedback loop that reinforces the anxiety/depression. But I'm certainly willing to use debilitating or another word and restrict paralyzing to mean a literal physical inability to move.
In terms of your complaint about the word paralyzing, I do agree that certain terms are thrown around in such a way that they lose their meaning. However, it is true that a lot of people, particularly those with extreme anxiety and depression, do lose control of their lives to the extent that they are unable to do things that they want/need to do. Not everyone with mental illness is "paralyzed" in this way, but many people are, and the isolation and other consequences of that form a negative feedback loop that reinforces the anxiety/depression. But I'm certainly willing to use debilitating or another word and restrict paralyzing to mean a literal physical inability to move.
Re: A request to the world
I think both of your points are very true. The problem is it is so hard to explain or define what all this actually is when people can't really see what's happening.
I sort of have a problem with the word sick also because it sort of implies that, like a cold, it just infected my body and will go away, and while people do get over it and get "better" I don't feel it's the same and maybe a little misleading. For example, I often get people asking when I can stop taking my meds. It's as hard to answer as "when will you be normal again" or the like. As if I have the flu. I might always have to take meds, who knows? Maybe it makes people feel more comfortable to think that this is a phase of something or that it's not "that bad" but the truth is, it really is hard to explain how exactly it's different or how to get people to understand.
People say paralyzing, I think, because there isn't really a word for how everything feels. People have so many different ideas of what mental illness is that they can't really know what any one person is going thru, so sometimes we have to break it down and maybe that's not the best option or even the most accurate one.
Or I'm rambling incoherently, possibly.
I sort of have a problem with the word sick also because it sort of implies that, like a cold, it just infected my body and will go away, and while people do get over it and get "better" I don't feel it's the same and maybe a little misleading. For example, I often get people asking when I can stop taking my meds. It's as hard to answer as "when will you be normal again" or the like. As if I have the flu. I might always have to take meds, who knows? Maybe it makes people feel more comfortable to think that this is a phase of something or that it's not "that bad" but the truth is, it really is hard to explain how exactly it's different or how to get people to understand.
People say paralyzing, I think, because there isn't really a word for how everything feels. People have so many different ideas of what mental illness is that they can't really know what any one person is going thru, so sometimes we have to break it down and maybe that's not the best option or even the most accurate one.
Or I'm rambling incoherently, possibly.