To hate the use of 'mental health'

[BarbaraVineFan]

As someone who has mental health issues in their family, this is driving me increasingly mad (pardon the pun!)

Increasingly these days you see people saying or writing 'mental health' when they mean 'mental illness' or 'mental health problems'.

'I couldn't do X because of my mental health'- kind of ok.

'I couldn't do X because I have mental health'- incorrect and increasingly common.

Why is this? Is it because people don't like using the word 'illness'? It is baffling to me!

I had a thread like this not too long ago!! So many people responded and agreed. Its SO annoying. Imagine if we all went round saying "I have physical health"
It makes no sense!

Agree.

Oh sorry @Photodilemmas , I didn't see your thread!

Good point about 'physical health'!

I agree. I always want to respond with "everyone has mental health"

Yanbu.

I’m similarly confused by the American use of “overweight”. Not used as an adjective, “I am overweight” but “overweight is a risk for heart disease”.

It was ages ago. Happy for the debate to be re discussed!

Totally agree!!
TBH, I think it’s an overused term even when used correctly but that’s a whole other thread!

Can’t get wound up about it! It’s still fairly taboo to talk about mental health.
I’d not be able to freely say “I can’t do X because I have bipolar/OCD/schizophrenia

Oh no!
I saw a thread earlier, someone complaining about their MIL but felt bad complaining because "MIL has mental health"
I thought it was a typo, they'd missed a word out like "problems" or "issues" or meant "a mental health condition".

Just saying someone has mental health is terrible grammar.

Argh @Donotgogentle, that's dreadful! So ungrammatical. I haven't come across that yet but I don't look forward to doing so...

No you don't need to disclose your condition you just need to add 'issues' or 'problems' or 'condition' on the end. It's the phrase 'I have mental health' which is what's weird and makes no sense.

i agree it can be used incorrectly.
it needs a verb
poor mental health for instance
rather than just mental health

Yes I completely agree!! You can’t just have ‘mental health’ it makes no sense!

If you have ‘mental health issues/problems/struggles’ etc say that, I agree that if you replaced it with ‘physical health’ it points out how ridiculous the statement is.

Exactly, you could just say 'I have a mental health condition which prevents me doing X'

I agree. Mental health to me means healthy mental health! Mental health problems / issues or negative mental health is surely accurate.

I hear people saying ' I've got mental health ' it means nothing does it ?

You have mental health issues or depression or whatever . We all have mental health !🙄

Interesting. I've never once seen this use of mental health as a two word phrase. Am I unusual?

If you spend enough time on MN, you are guaranteed to see it :(

Just for you OP:-

www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/obesity-overweight.htm

What annoys me is people use it as a catch all to excuse poor behaviour.

My BIL is a nasty fucker. He smokes weed, he’s beaten his girlfriend, he’s beaten his dog up, he’s a deadbeat dad - and yet my ILs trip over themselves to make excuses for him because “mental health”. Never thinking of the mental health issues he causes to others. Being furious when DH and I suggest maybe the weed isn’t so good for him and is probably why he’s apparently depressed.

I spoke to MIL the other day and she said he’d been over to visit her. I can’t stand him but I don’t bring my issues with him to my PILs as it’s not really my place (though they do know we don’t want him round our kids). She was all “Oh poor BIL, this time last year he was on bail and it’s still so raw for him”. I couldn’t help it and said maybe he shouldn’t have punched his girlfriend then and she blathered on about mental health and how the girlfriend “pushed him to the brink knowing how bad his mental health is”. It makes me seethe. Not least because despite the fact he assaulted her so hard she lost a tooth, he wasn’t charged. But oh no, mental health trumps it all
<rant over>

@Donotgogentle argggggghhhhhh

you are quite right OP

may I recommend Pedants Corner? its full of people who care about accurate communication 😄

Confused or just irritated? Tbh I don't think that one is particularly odd. After all, 'weight' is a noun, so it doesn't seem that much of a stretch to think that overweight might work as a noun.

Ah - I've just looked it up in the OED. Itis in fact a noun as well as an adjective: overweight n. 'excessive or extra weight'. So the American usage is perfectly correct.

There is a world of difference between a person suffering from a mental illness and one who says their mental health is affected by having an off day or feeling a bit fed up.

Normal human reactions are being treated as if they’re an illness when they’re not. It’s entirely normal to be stressed, anxious, worried, upset… that is what makes us human.

Of course. I'm not suggesting everyone should use the term 'mental illness'. I am objecting to the ungrammatical and imprecise use of 'I have mental health' instead of saying 'my mental health is affected by...'