Mental illnesses should be redefined as Neurobiological Disorders ... what do you think?

[nappyaddict]

I was reading an article earlier http://www.schizophrenia.com/family/Braindisease.html

It was saying that mental illnesses should be redefined as Neurobiological Disorders because the term mental illness is non-scientific, judgmental, and prejudicial. Do you agree with this?

It used illness like Schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar and major depressive disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety and panic disorders as examples.

Hmm I'm in favour of calling a spade a spade and don't think changing the name will change anything. What stigma there is will remain.

I'm not ashamed to have (had ) a mental illness, it happened to me due to someone elses evil behaviour towards me, it's not something i brought on myself

FWIW I think that many people (including myself before I had mental health problems) use the word "depression" to mean "fed up" and having experienced 2 severe episodes of depression(both times hopsitalised for 3 months) and still trying to recover from latest episode, it does tend to annoy me and I have often thought that there should be another name for depression to distinguish it from just being "fed up" or a bit low.

I don't object to the term mental illness, but I am sad at the stigma that is still attached to this kind of illness. I think neurobiological disorder is a bit of a mouthful though.

tag the word 'disorder' onto it......still has a stigma!

Nappyaddict, yes I do believe the term mental illness is prejudicial and judgemental, and can cause people to "react" negatively to those who perhaps may only have a slight chemical imbalance.. also the term neurobiological is probably more apt, as it is a brain/body link in many of these disorders...therefore it is not only a "mental" illness, but also a physical one. I also think that a great number of health professionals tar most of us (anxious or depressed) people with the same brush, because they don't have anywhere near enough training or resources to deal with us..

Tbh, while I can see the logic behind it all I can actually see happening is the stigma will attach to the new name.

There will always be stigma attached to mental health obviously.. after all people believe us to be loopy. But perhaps altering the name,and possibly the understanding of our unique problems, public opinion may shift slightly?

Thanks for your input kibbutz maybe we could ask MN to change the top name from Mental Health to Neurobiological Disorders (NBD for sort?)

short

Maybe one day they will :)