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.

They might do some of the things you have said, yes. (Though they almost never write full sentences, usually one word or two, often unreadable)

I'm not suggesting all doctors put it all the time. But I've definitely had it on fit notes at work.

I'm perfectly aware it makes zero sense, but I just deal with the fit note, I'm not in charge of doctors.

But, my response was sarcasm. Of course I know "mental health" isn't an illness, but it gets put on fit notes so you can see why people are confused. So does stress by the way, frequently, and that isn't an illness either, it's an input.

No they dont, they use the diagnosis of a condition, depression, stress, anxiety, panic disorder, bipolar, psychosis etc etc

It really annoys me too!

But do you think it’s ok to use the incorrect terminology in an advert for health insurance as the OP mentioned? If someone told me in a text or in person that they had mental health, I would of course know what they meant and I wouldn’t correct it. But I fully expect the proper usage from a health insurance company. I think that’s a very basic, low bar requirement.

I agree - it’s a very odd and annoying language trend.

There is an irony here that you are irritated enough to start this thread.

I so agree. It grates every time I see it.

I know what you mean op. Everyone has mental health (whether it’s good or poor) but not everyone has mental health difficulties.

Another bug bear is people saying ‘my child is SEN (special educational needs) instead of saying my child ‘has’ SEN.

I think the sheer number of people on here who have misunderstood what your post is actually about is a good demonstration of why this term is being used. It is incorrect, and doesn’t make any sense. It winds me up too. But in the end, if enough people use it incorrectly, eventually it gets accepted into normal language and becomes the normal way to describe something. In the same way that eventually, ‘Chester drawers’ might become the universally accepted way to describe a chest of drawers. Frustrating and incorrect, but language has a habit of doing this. It eveloves and changes through time. If it didn’t, we’d all be talking like Chaucer.

It’s probably used as a way of giving someone a sick note without labelling them with an actual diagnosis

as there is still a lot of stigma sadly even these days
which is awful

Thank goodness it's not just me!

I find it massively annoying, but no-one I know seems to get it.

People struggling have poor mental health. Or mental ill-health. Or mental health problems.

This is one of those language weirdnesses that had come out of nowhere and rapidly infected the vast majority of people, and as we see from the advert, is even being used professionally. It makes no sense.

As someone with mental health issues (or mental illness - I use either), yes it really winds me up.

If someone has “mental health”, surely that’s a good thing?

This annoys me as well. When people say I’ve got mental health-we’ve all got mental health!

As for it being on sick notes as 'mental health', I don't really have a problem with that as I read it as saying that the reason is off sick due to mental health related reasons.

Fine to say 'I'm struggling with my mental health', but 'i've got mental health ' really irks me.

The OP isn’t disagreeing with this - this the correct use of mental health (and health).

It’s when people say “I’ve got mental health” - well yes we all have, there’s nothing in that sentence to indicate any problem. The same way you wouldn’t say “I’ve got health” if you’re poorly.

I agree with you. People use the term mental health when they mean that are having problems but miss out the word problem.

mental health is something everyone has. How does the phrase protecting your mental health work if mental health is negative.

I've just read the rest of the thread, and so many people have completely missed the point!

"Mental illness" has stigma as a term, often associated with severe and permenant conditions, and being dangerous, completely dysfunctional, or as a way of insulting people.
I used to complete disability benefit applications for people and often encountered strong resistance to the use of the term mental illness to describe their issues. Typically people preferred 'mental health problems'. I suppose its just become shortened from that.

I get that but if someone says that something isn’t good for their mental health that doesn’t mean they are currently having mental health problems, just that they have recognised this could cause issues and is something they should avoid too much of. Same as they might say a piece of cake is bad for their health.

YANBU

I first heard it about six years ago. It made no sense then. But the person saying it was controlling, forgetful, and bad tempered! They were saying it about another person so I thought they were being cruel and dismissive on purpose.

Hearing it since then just annoys me. It makes no sense! It's like saying "I'm going to the opticians because I've got eye sight" or "I take this medication because I've got blood pressure"

There's no descriptor!

It’s just another example of people being too precious to acknowledge reality - like people who talk about their “froofroo” or “haha,” to avoid mentioning another reality they find it hard to publicly acknowledge. It’s a demonstration of the fact mental illness is still not something people want to admit to, so they say something spectacularly idiotic as a codeword, so that others can know how ridiculous they are.

You've obviously not seen every fit note ever written.

The things you've put appear as well. I wasn't suggesting that doctors use that exclusively to cover any mental health condition.

Usually folk say mental health problems or mental health issues. Like stomach problems.

This makes sense but there are lots that just say mental health