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.

Omfg I worked with someone who said this and just began resenting her for it. How can you actually be quite so dim

Yes, it’s very annoying!

I think we all understand the (undeserved) stigma the term ‘mental illness’ carries, but that isn’t the point of the thread.

Ah, these verbal short-cuts!

When will people stop using the infuriating "goodbye" and instead use the proper term, "God be with you"?

Surely putting mental health on a fit note is like writing “leg” or “limb” on a fit note for someone with a broken leg?

Completely agree with you. To say ‘she has mental health’ is just daft as everyone has mental health. One of those ones that I judge, but people are gonna do it…

Thats always what mental health meant. It literally means the state of health of your mind, which covers all of the above. Each of us has mental health, which fluctuates.

The OP does seem to be complaining that mental health coverage was listed on the health insurance? I think it makes sense in this instance.

Yes they have. The point being that the OP has missed the point of an advert and falsely linked it to the incorrect use of "mental health" in certain vocal turns of phrase.

It's not the same thing at all!

Shortening "God be with you" to "Goodbye" doesn't change the meaning.

Referring to "mental health" when you're actually talking about "mental illness" actually means the opposite of what you're saying.

As an aside, any sick note I've had from my doctor just says I'm not fit to work from X date to Y date, the reason isn't included.

Im with you OP. I used to work for a mortgage arrears company and set up repayment plans etc and so many people would call up and say “I have mental health” and I’d think well mental health what? I have mental health, do you have mental health problems? It would drive me bananas.

I’ve heard plenty of people say that have ‘blood pressure’.

It’s incorrect, yes. I know that they are actually saying they have issues with their blood pressure though.

BUT IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT. Mental health means mental illness and mental wellness. "I'm looking after my mental health" can mean that you eat well, meditate, make sure you have time to stare into space or just set healthy boundaries at work. Or access mental health support, perhaps counselling or treatment for mental illness which if offered with insurance which it was advertising. It's NOT incorrect in this instance, in the example given by the OP of the advert.

Yes, when people say "I've got mental health" this is wrong. But the advert isn't.

Totally agree. This drives me up the wall!
I know this is probably unreasonable, but it makes the person saying it sound thick.

"Mental health" as a broad term encompasses everything pertaining to a person's mental health, yes. But if you put "mental health" as a reason for absence from work or say "I can't do x because I have mental health," it's a nonsense.

As a PP said it's like saying "I can't come to work because I have an ankle," when you mean your ankle is sprained/broken.

Everyone has "mental health" of some sort, whether its peachy or they are in the throes of depression. When your mental health is bad enough to need time off work its "mental illness" not "mental health".

Thinking about it, it's very similar to people using double negatives.

I agree (unless someone says a mental health condition and doesn't want to or is not required to be specific). But why not use that as the example of poor usage in the OP? Then I would agree. In the advert the usage is correct.

I completely agree with you OP, ‘I have health, I’m alive’.

But while the phrase should be poor mh / mh issues/ challenges, I do understand it has having a particular meaning, which is ‘mild depression and/or anxiety, probably situational and likely to improve with life circumstances.’ So not necessarily a ‘serious’ ongoing mental illness. More a debilitating experience.

And I’m glad that people who experience this are now recognised as having a real health condition, that requires space and understanding for them to recover. They don’t have to get worse, or risk being stigmatised, to access treatment and accommodation. That’s a big step forward.

Oh wow, so many more people missing the point. The original poster is complaining about the USE of LANGUAGE which is describing the opposite to what people actually mean!!!

All the people on here justifying various different mental health issues, yes, I agree with your points, but it is totally irrelevant to what the poster was talking about.

This makes me wish I was a doctor just so I could write sick notes that give the reason as "head" or "skin" 😂

A sick note should say mental health problems or mental ill health.

Those of us who are lucky enough to feel well have mental health; those who are ill do not.

I think it’s because illness is not the same as a condition.

say for example you wouldn’t call someone in a wheelchair or blind ‘ill’

Same thing for mental health. You can have numerous conditions which are not always ‘illness’

😂 I hear you, Op! I think it's so funny! I had a taxi driver telling me there's an awful lot of mental health about these days! I was still laughing internally about it days later!

Its the same as people saying ' I've got blood pressure'
Well frankly I'd hope so- otherwise you'd be dead.

I'm so glad to see I'm not the only person annoyed by this! It is misused everywhere, all the time, including by people who should know better.