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?

No WhoAteAgentZigzagsBrain, I wasn't referring to you, I don't know the strength of any of your feelings and honestly I couldn't give a damn about any of it either when I am calling someone else a nutter.

Who the hell are you, by the way?

Tough one. I've had some mental health issues, and my mother had quite severe MH issues and was involved in MIND groups, so I grew up with a number of people with MH issues around me. I don't at all mind things like loon, bonkers, barking etc, unless the context is very insulting/overly negative etc.
Schizo I hate because it is both nasty and inaccurate, also psycho unless you really actually mean someone might be a psychopath.

I'm wary of making too many words taboo or pc if you know what I mean, because I don;t think it serves the purpose intended and because I don't like arbitrary restriction of language.

So, um, all about context and intent, IMO.

'and honestly I couldn't give a damn about any of it either when I am calling someone else a nutter'

Which is what the OP is talking about, you are using the term without any thought.

'Who the hell are you, by the way?'

Why do you ask?

I ask because you seem very worried about me hurting your very particular feelings... which I ignore how could happen unless you make a point of getting offended on purpose.

Which was exactly my initial point :P

Too PC

People describing themselves or being described as a 'nutter' when they ahve forgotten something or muddled something is not offensive imo

but I'm sure you will disagree with me

I've had my own fair share of MH issues, both personally and affecting those closest to me (exH, mum, dad and brother).

I'm with Tee and Headless on this one I'm afraid memoo

I don't think that (most) people use these words with any intention to hurt anyone else - those that do use the words to intentionally hurt people aren't worth your time and energy worrying about it (or them!).

It's possible to find offence in just about "anything", but that doesn't help your mental health any. Some things you just have to let go - what is it they say? "Don't sweat the little things"?

Seriously, if someone hisses "schizo" at you - then they're really not a very nice person are they? Do you want someone like that to like you? Do you want that person to have an intimate knowledge of your life or to be able to classify them as a friend? I doubt it... let them be. You are who you are and the ill-chosen words of others will never change that. :)

Surely the point of insults is that they are offensive???

Mental, psycho, mong, spaz....all deeply offensive and vile things to say. But how else would you say that someone is doing something a little crazy other than mad, loony etc. I guess it would be best if we all described behaviour and not name call?

YANBU.

I feel people with mental health problems are an easy target.

It is one thing to call yourself crazy, etc but quite another for someone to use it as an insult.

just getting on this thread, interesting

"I do hate it when people refer to themselves as 'a little bit OCD' or say something like 'my house is so clean you'd think I had OCD'. It makes me wonder what they think OCD is, and how they think it manifests itself in people. I think it's quite insensitive."

yes, this annoys me too (was going to say "drives me mad" [hblush]) to the point where I have started threads on it before. No one says that about other illnesses, "mild OCD" is like a badge of honour

at lal123, just what I was thinking. Isn't that the point of an insult? Which insults are acceptable? Is there an insult that doesn't offend a group of people?

At school we used to call each other 'tool/spoon/spanner' after being told off by the Head of Lower School for using some 'offensive insult'. Or is that offensive to tradesmen?

Even terms as mild as 'idiot' or 'mad' were, a hundred years ago, actual medical diagnoses. If we say the January sales are 'manic' or that there has was a 'frenetic' rush to buy Cup Final tickest or that the politician is 'delusional'... there are some more. I don't think there is any English word that questions state of mind that doesn't have its roots in a genuine illness. We can't eliminate all of these words just because someone is sensitised.

There are genuinely abusive terms, there are cod amateur diagnoses and there are everyday words. Taking offence does not mean a word is offensive.

Hmm, this is quite difficult isn't it? If you have a health issue, mental or otherwise then someone using the name of your illness as an insult is possibly going to feel offensive to you.

Where do you draw the line though? There is a thread in Active Convos at the moment about the Royal Mail giving someone a heart attack. Is this offensive to people who've had heart attacks because it belittles their illness?

I think its more about the context that its used- for example I use the phrase (quite frequently) "my kids are driving me mad!!!"- of course they are not causing me to have a mental illness- but I think that people are more tolerant of phrases like this than someone calling someone a 'nutter' because they don't conform to the norm.

I loath, hate and despise people who use terms such as 'schizo' 'Psycho' 'nutcase' etc but feel that this types of names are generally banded about by those who don't really have a clue about the real meaning of the word.

My GP asked me "what nuthouse" I worked in when I told him I was a mental health nurse- I was appalled that someone who would have umpteen people coming through his surgery with MH problems each day, could use such an insulting phrase for the local psychiatric hospital.
He offended me because he should have known better.
People who know very little about MH issues (through lack of education or ignorance) will have very limited awareness of how terms can be offensive or insulting.

I'm torn on this, because I think this use of language does contribute to discrimination.
But can anyone suggest a PC yet snappy response to the AIBU posters who are suggesting a course of action which is wildly outside the realms of reasonableness and normality? (AIBU to refuse to take my child to the playground because he might fall over?)

"Daft"... origins Old English gedaefte meaning 'mild, gentle or meek', progressing to 'stupid' (13th Century) and synonymous with 'imbecile' (16th Century) :)

I think people are always going to be offended by something.

but if something isn't said to wound and is a throwaway comment then I can't see the point in getting het up about it.

what about saying somebody is 'as blind as a bat' - is that offensive to blind people (or bats?)

What about being 'as deaf as a post?'

I use words like made, bonkers, crackers....

I'm not having a dig at people with genuine mental health issues it's just a convenient use of language to get a message across

Can I ask a question? I hope I don't offend anyone by asking this, but I have noticed that sometimes on MN people refer to children/friends/relative who have Aspergers syndrome as 'Aspies'. Why is this acceptable and not derogatory, but similarly shortened/altered names of conditions are deemed very offensive (rightly so). I always thought it was wholly inappropriate to refer to someone as their condition/syndrome/illness i.e a person suffering from schizophrenia, shouldn't be referred to as 'schizo'.

It's only acceptable in the same way that some wheelchair users refer to themselves as 'crips'... or some black people talk about 'reclaiming the n word'. (Although that doesn't mean everyone in that group approves Generally speaking, if you're in any particular group you are allowed to refer to yourself in whatever derogatory shorthand versions you see fit. But it is unacceptable for those outside the group to so the same...

Sorry not been back on having a bit of a weekend

Some very interesting post. Tbh I'm not 100% sure how I feel about it either.

I know I was offended when a friend 'jokingly' called my a 'mental cow' but I guess thats because of my history and the fact that she knows how ill I have been. But if somebody who didn't know about my illness said the same thing to me I'm not sure wether I would be very offended.

Also these words are so imbedded in our language, I caught my self calling DD1 a loon this morning when she did something funny

YANBU