It’s not mental HEALTH!!! Grrr

[BarbaraVineFan]

AIBU to get so irritated with people using ‘ mental health’ to mean ‘ mental illness’? I saw it in an advert for health insurance or something today, a whole list of complaints including joint pain, Parkinson’s, diabetes etc and then MENTAL HEALTH. Mental health is not an illness!! The clue is in the name! Why do people do it? It’s so odd and only seems to have started in the last couple of years.

Well, Doctors put it on sick notes, so it must be an illness!

I used to work with someone who always said things like ‘she has mental health’.

We all do, love. We all do.

You don’t have to have a diagnosed mental illness to struggle with your mental health though- I assume that’s what eg the insurance ad is referring to.

They surely don’t?! They may put something like ‘ she is experiencing difficulties with her mental health’, which is of course fine and absolutely correct. I am talking about people saying or writing ‘he/she has mental health’ without adding the word ‘issues’ or ‘ difficulties’.

Do they? I’ve never seen it, and I work in HR so spend quite a lot of time reading other people’s sick notes. Obviously I’m not a medical professional though.

But in that case they should put ‘ mental health issues’ not just ‘ mental health’! You wouldn’t put ‘ physical health’ in a list of illnesses, would you?

Totally agree. You can have good or bad or great or poor health. Mental health needs a descriptor.

Also hear it from people working in healthcare sector who should know better.

Perhaps I'm a bit of a pedant though as I also dislike the use of 'maternity' to mean maternity leave. Maternity means motherhood.

Yeah maybe if we’re being pedantic, but I would imagine most people reading that advert understands what they’re getting at.

A doctor might sign you off for ‘a mental health condition’, ‘mental health issues’, or ‘mental ill health’ but they wouldn’t say ‘I’m signing Sharon off because she’s got mental health’ because that makes no sense. That’s like saying you’ve got ‘cardiac health’ to describe angina, or ‘vascular health’ to describe a DVT - They are conditionals AFFECTING those things, so by their very definition they are not healthy.

Where do we draw the line between being pedantic and being correct though ?! You may as well say that they should have just put ‘joints’ instead of ‘ joint pain’.

I think the vast majority of people know what someone means when they are on about their mental health.

"I've got mental health"

I know what you mean!

That’s not what you asked though- you asked about people using ‘mental health’ to mean ‘mental illness’ not about whether saying ‘mental health’ without including the word ‘issues’ was correct.

Mental health (with or without the word ‘issues’) is different to having a diagnosed mental illness.

Yes people could include the word ‘issues’ or similar when using the term mental health, but in the example you posted I think it’s pretty clear to most people what the meaning is.

but surely we shouldn’t only go by ‘I know what they mean, so it’s ok.’ If your four year old says ‘I goed to the park today’, you obviously know what they mean but you don’t just let them say it wrong- you correct them.

i am not of course suggesting that you should be a dick about it and correct adults who say it. But surely in a published advert it should be correct?!

Yanbu. It’s a very broad spectrum and I’d imagine they’re picky about which neurological disorders they choose to insure.
Anxiety creates unsettling feelings impacting your mental health whereas schizophrenia impacts your mind and ability to cope without serious daily medication.
Neurological illnesses might be a better description if that’s what they mean.

If someone says about their mental health, and you know they have some how worded it wrong and you are dismissing their struggles as a result.... then that is a you problem.

Oh, come on, of course I’m not saying I would ‘dismiss their struggles’. For goodness’ sake. I am just saying it’s an annoying and baffling use of language which makes me irritated when I see it.

In this case I think you are being unreasonable as health insurance plans often cover preventative care for both physical and mental health.
You don't need to have mental health issues to want to take care of your mental health.

We all have mental health- sometimes it is good. Sometimes it is poor. But the term itself is neutral and is frequently misused

Yes, they really mean "mental ill-health".

You would understand what they mean and wouldn’t pick on the words if someone said they had mental health. (issues)
My DM used to say she had a nerve problem, suffering nerves, on her nerves, whichever everyone has a nervous system but I understood what she was saying in her own words., her nervous system was off and it caused her anxiety.

It drives me wild too.

At least it is not shortened to "mental".

My language pet peeve: people calling themselves neurodiverse when they mean neurodivergent 😬

Society is neurodiverse. An individual is neurotypical or neurodivergent!

My health is mental so I do actually have mental health