Using insults that are offensive to people with mental health issues

[memoo]

I suffer with mental illness and have done on and off for a number of years, so maybe I'm over thinking, but I am genuinely interested in people?s opinions.

I have been giving this a lot of thought and I was wondering why people find it acceptable to use terms such a nutter, psycho, mental etc as insults?

Years ago some people thought it was acceptable to abbreviate the names of physical disabilities, such a cerebral palsy, in a derogatory way and use them as insults.

Thankfully most people now know how wrong this is and how hurtful and demeaning it to people with these disabilities.

Most of us would be disgusted to hear somebody use such an insult, yet few of us bat an eyelid when insults are used that are offensive to the mentally ill.

Some people have to live with devastating mental illness their whole lives. Mental illness can be as debilitating as any physical condition; it can destroy families, rob children of a parent and cause the breakdown of many a relationship. In extreme cases it can lead to criminality, drug addiction and life threatening behaviours.

So, am I being unreasonable to suggest it?s time to stop using insults that are offensive to people with mental health issues? Does using them turn mentally ill people into a source of mockery and ridicule based on ignorance?

I agree with you, I dont think that those are acceptable terms to use.

So what terms are acceptable?

I agree with you, and it's not just the 'someone has bizarre behaviour so they must be mentally ill' but also using those terms against someone to imply that what they're saying is not valid.

So you'll be having an argument discussion with someone, and if they get frustrated and feel like they're losing control of the situation, they have no qualms in suggesting you can't possibly be just expressing an opinion (that you don't like what they've done) you must be saying it because you're mentally ill

That fucks me right off.

I think the only way to stop it happening is to pick up on it every time you hear/see it.

SGM, perhaps on here it might go something like

OP - my MIL has just washed her kegs in my sink, WTF?

Posters - blimey she's a loon/nutter/bonkers/mental...

It would be OK if a poster asked the OP 'do you think your MIL may have mental health issues?' as she may have.

But if she really doesn't and it's just bizarre behaviour an association is constantly made that people with mental health issues are unpredictable (and in other cases dangerous/criminal) which tars all mentally ill people with the same brush.

The last few days I've heard people called
"A f*cking Nutter"
"A psycho bitch"
"A nutjob"

I found all of these offensive.

Looking at the bigger picture. Mental illness is still such a taboo subject and I wonder if using such derogatory terms just widens the gap between people?s perception of mental illness and the actual reality

YANBU - I really understand where you are coming from. My sister has schizophrenia, and when she has been particularly ill in the past, I've found myself cringing and feeling really upset every time someone has used something like 'nutter' or 'lunatic' in conversation (not about her, just casually about someone else as discussed above). I don't think it's remotely possible to stop people doing it quickly, it just has to happen slowly over time, as people's awareness grows, and these words become more unacceptable. But I just wanted to say that no, I don't think you are BU.

I have several mental health issues and none of those words bother me.

Some people's actions are a bit loony/mental/whatever even if they don't have actual, diagnosed mental health issues.

I myself call my meds my Mad Meds and have been know to refer to myself as crazy.

What actions are a bit loony/mental tee?

Can stand Schizo either! My neighbour always refers to the elderly lady across the road as being a 'schizo' just because the poor woman gets a bit confussed and cross sometimes.

See by referring to some behaviour as a bit loony or mental you are implying that people with mental health problems behave in a certain way that is different than the norm therefore perpetuating the myth that mentally ill people aren't normal. They are normal, they just happen to be suffering from an illness

how is 'mental' bad,as its 'mental' health being described?

i was nearly killed at the hands of some one who has mental health issues,so find it hard to refer to people like that (with the true diagnosis eventually arrived at) in a kind way...sorry,but i am truly horrified that the 'depression' card was pulled as an excuse for it. again.

can understand what you mean tho,and will give it consideration in future.

Sometimes, though, they act in a way that is unusual, or outside the norm. I certainly do when I do not take my meds.

I do think there are some MILs, for example, that act a bit mad without any diagnosis. Do you not think it is a bit mad/loony to, for example, pluck a crying baby out of its mother's arms because you think the baby will calm down better and not give it back even when the baby gets hysterical? I think that's total madness that has no specific MH Dx.

I've just taken my Mad Meds and must go to sleep, so forgive me if I do not respond further until tomorrow!!

WhoAteAgentZigzagsBrain I first read your post as "my MIL has just washed her legs in my sink." I had visions of the MIL lifting her legs up to the kitchen sink to wash them. :o

I've suffered serious mental health problems - I really don't give a shit what people toss around as insults - my enormous amount of therapy has taught me that it's their issue, their projections and that their words have absolutely NO impact on me and who I am. :)

memoo I've probably used those words too. I should know better.
But I do like the terms 'Daft Aprith' (one of my Mum's) and 'Daft Bugger'.
How about those?

My brother is seriously mentally ill and I must admit that like Alpine I don't find the words offensive so much as the intent and the tone behind them. If someone is acting a bit oddly or if a friend is then I (and he actually) will refer to them as a bit of a loon or something. What does wind me up is if someone is clearly mentally ill and their behaviour is reflecting this, if someone sneers at them, calling them "mental" or "barking". There was a thread a few weeks ago when someone was complaining about their neighbour, and she was saying things like "He's just a fucking nutter" etc. That quite upset me I must say, because it makes me wonder what ignorant people have said about my brother in the past.

I think there's a reasonable-ness test. Would be silly to object to idiot just because several hundred years ago it related to mental health - no-one alive now is using it in that sense.

Personally not offended by nutter, loon or barking as descriptions of everyday behaviour (well, unusual behaviour) rather than actual diagnosed mental illness.

Applying any of those words to someone who is affected by mental illness would be crass.

FWIW several of my family members and friends have experienced mental illness, so I'm not at all inclined to put up with actual prejudice.

Odd thing is if you scratch the surface you find a staggeringly high proportion of people have been affected by mental illness. Those using the words as insults probably do have friends and family in that category.

I think absolutely any term that we use could be deemed offensive by people who, in some way, has ever been affected by it. It applies not only to insults, but to jokes, comments, or gestures. I do truly believe that people CHOOSE to get offended and feel aggrieved sometimes.

My best friend died in a car accident. However, every time someone tells a joke in which someone gets run over, or crashes a car, I won´t spoil the fun by saying: "Oh, you're so insensitive, how do you think THAT makes ME feel?". I actually find jokes funny, whether or not they involve something bad about my past. All the world does not revolve around me.

I will call someone a nutter or a psycho when he or she does something nuts. I am not thinking at all about people with mental issues when I say it, and I find it stupid (should I say sorry to truly stupid people?) that a person with mental issues would feel offended by it.

Just my opinion, though.

So yes, IMO you ABU.

'I won´t spoil the fun by saying: "Oh, you're so insensitive, how do you think THAT makes ME feel?"'

Awwww sorry if anybody saying anything about using terms like nutter/loon is spoiling your fun aurynne.

The OP isn't talking about funny jokes, or people who CHOOSE to get offended, unless you're saying I'm building the way I feel out of all proportion just because you don't find it offensive?

But of course you don't know the strength of my feeling on this because you're not me, it's very easy to put down how other people feel like you just have.