You must be mad!

[Catherineanne]

This issue has arisen in another thread, but I thought it worth opening to general discussion.

It is no longer acceptable to use language of physical disability as terms of general abuse, words such as 'crip', 'spastic', 'mong' etc. I am old enough to remember all of these used in the playground with no real awareness of what they denoted, and I am pleased that with the passing of time we have all moved on somewhat from such nastiness.

However, much nastiness remains, specifically in relation to mental health. How many of us casually say, 'You are crazy!', 'He is mental!', 'You are out of your mind!' 'She is psycho!'

Do we even care that such language can hurt people with mental health conditions?

Do we care that there is no way at all to counter such accusations because any attempt to do so will feed the animosity which prompted the comment in the first place?

Does it matter?

I have a complex mental health condition. I am also one of the sanest people you will ever meet, and not exactly lacking in intelligence. I would really like to make people aware of this matter, and encourage a shade more thought.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/18/69/12/1869120efd58b307284e2951bfc8b864.jpg

 

[Jesus' Follower]

You're right. These types of statements are thrown around without any thought.
Persons with mental issues could take a major offence to them and I don't blame them if they did; this is the 21st Century - people are more comfortable in informing others of mental issues as it is more common now than ever.
Any words as such which may cause offence should be substituted with another word which is more appropriate.
Being a reader and a writer, I have a large vocabulary and am able to find another word (should I even dream of saying something as such).
If people want to refer to something as a word that may be offensive, use a thesaurus or look at one online.
What might not be offensive to you could be offensive to someone else.

 

[joshua 1 9]

This issue has arisen in another thread, but I thought it worth opening to general discussion.

It is no longer acceptable to use language of physical disability as terms of general abuse, words such as 'crip', 'spastic', 'mong' etc. I am old enough to remember all of these used in the playground with no real awareness of what they denoted, and I am pleased that with the passing of time we have all moved on somewhat from such nastiness.

However, much nastiness remains, specifically in relation to mental health. How many of us casually say, 'You are crazy!', 'He is mental!', 'You are out of your mind!' 'She is psycho!'

Do we even care that such language can hurt people with mental health conditions?

Do we care that there is no way at all to counter such accusations because any attempt to do so will feed the animosity which prompted the comment in the first place?

Does it matter?

I have a complex mental health condition. I am also one of the sanest people you will ever meet, and not exactly lacking in intelligence. I would really like to make people aware of this matter, and encourage a shade more thought.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/18/69/12/1869120efd58b307284e2951bfc8b864.jpg

Jesus says it all comes down to treating others the way we want to be treated.

 

[grasping the after wind]

Jesus says it all comes down to treating others the way we want to be treated.

Then if i do not mind being called crazy I have no reason to refrain from calling someone else crazy. Call me crazy but I find this whole over sensitivity stuff to be wearing thin.

 

[Jesus' Follower]

Jesus says it all comes down to treating others the way we want to be treated.

That's correct.

 

[Jesus' Follower]

Then if i do not mind being called crazy I have no reason to refrain from calling someone else crazy. Call me crazy but I find this whole over sensitivity stuff to be wearing thin.

I understand your point, however people can be offended more easily than you.
It all about how a person sees things.

 

[grasping the after wind]

I understand your point, however people can be offended more easily than you.
It all about how a person sees things.

Wouldn't it be better to help people become more self assured than to enable them to stay so unnecessarily emotionally vulnerable by pandering to their oversensitivity?

 

[Dave-W]

Jesus says it all comes down to treating others the way we want to be treated.

And if I am suicidal? Should I treat others that way?

 

[Oafman]

I could not agree more with the OP.

And actually, I think this touches on a broader issue, which is that there still exists a culture in our societies where many people hold someone with a mental illness at least partially responsible for it. Too many people see mental conditions as some sort of character flaw, or sign of personal weakness. We would never think that way about someone with a physical illness, yet with mental illness the rules seem different. This is only true of some people, not of all, but this idea needs to be constantly challenged.

Then if i do not mind being called crazy I have no reason to refrain from calling someone else crazy. Call me crazy but I find this whole over sensitivity stuff to be wearing thin.

So, if someone did something clumsy, would you call them a 'spastic'? And if there was someone with a disability in the room, would you think they were being over sensitive if they took offence?

When I was a schoolkid, maybe about 12 or 13, a teacher overheard me call a friend a 'spacca' (which was slang for spastic at the time). She was obviously quite upset, and marched me into her office for a dressing down. She spent about 10 minutes telling me about her daughter who had a serious disability (I can't remember exactly what), about the challenges she had to face with her daughter just to get by on a daily basis, and about what a loving daughter she was, regardless of those difficulties. She also explained to me why it is offensive to people with such conditions to use words like that as slurs directed at those who do not suffer such problems. I never used the word again.

The same applies if you say to somone 'you're mental'. We should all stop saying such things.

 

[grasping the after wind]

So, if someone did something clumsy, would you call them a 'spastic'?

No I would call them a klutz.

And if there was someone with a disability in the room, would you think they were being over sensitive if they took offence?

Yes I would.

When I was a schoolkid, maybe about 12 or 13, a teacher overheard me call a friend a 'spacca' (which was slang for spastic at the time). She was obviously quite upset, and marched me into her office for a dressing down. She spent about 10 minutes telling me about her daughter who had a serious disability (I can't remember exactly what), about the challenges she had to face with her daughter just to get by on a daily basis, and about what a loving daughter she was, regardless of those difficulties. She also explained to me why it is offensive to people with such conditions to use words like that as slurs directed at those who do not suffer such problems. I never used the word again.

Why would anyone ever use a word as a slur to begin with. I use words to describe not to slur. I have never called a mentally ill person crazy or a person with Parkinson's disease spastic or a mentally challenged person a retard nor would I. That would be offensive. calling my cousin crazy for buying a new car when he is unemployed is not.

 

[Oafman]

The word crazy has probably become so far removed from mental illness as to not be a major problem. But words like retard have not.

I'm sure you would not use such a word to describe someone with a mental condition. But my point was that we also shouldn't use such words to describe people without such conditions.

If you don't do that, then good for you. As long as you understand why people with a condition do take offence when words like 'retard' are used pejoratively to describe those with good mental health.

 

[Gadarene]

So what words can be used for negative exclamation, seeing as they will invariably offend someone somewhere and for some reason?

(Not being glib either, I have GAD, don't care about people using words like "crazy")

 

[DogmaHunter]

Wouldn't it be better to help people become more self assured than to enable them to stay so unnecessarily emotionally vulnerable by pandering to their oversensitivity?

This.

A thousand times, this.

Otherwise, what's next? Making things like "satire" illegal?

 

[Dave RP]

This issue has arisen in another thread, but I thought it worth opening to general discussion.

It is no longer acceptable to use language of physical disability as terms of general abuse, words such as 'crip', 'spastic', 'mong' etc. I am old enough to remember all of these used in the playground with no real awareness of what they denoted, and I am pleased that with the passing of time we have all moved on somewhat from such nastiness.

However, much nastiness remains, specifically in relation to mental health. How many of us casually say, 'You are crazy!', 'He is mental!', 'You are out of your mind!' 'She is psycho!'

Do we even care that such language can hurt people with mental health conditions?

Do we care that there is no way at all to counter such accusations because any attempt to do so will feed the animosity which prompted the comment in the first place?

Does it matter?

I have a complex mental health condition. I am also one of the sanest people you will ever meet, and not exactly lacking in intelligence. I would really like to make people aware of this matter, and encourage a shade more thought.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/18/69/12/1869120efd58b307284e2951bfc8b864.jpg

In my opinion there is way too much sensitivity and it is amounting to censorship. It seems everyone has some sort of issue these days, and it better not be mentioned for fear of upsetting someone.

 

[Jesus' Follower]

Wouldn't it be better to help people become more self assured than to enable them to stay so unnecessarily emotionally vulnerable by pandering to their oversensitivity?

Yes we must encourage strength, however mental issues can cause people to take remarks extremely poorly and lead them to perform unspeakable acts.

 

[Gadarene]

Yes we must encourage strength, however mental issues can cause people to take remarks extremely poorly and lead them to perform unspeakable acts.

See, this sort of thinking is what the problem is - not whether or not we use one particular word or not.

This person has just stereotyped the mentally ill - oh, but his language was perfectly up to PC code, so that's alright then isn't it?

 

[Jesus' Follower]

See, this sort of thinking is what the problem is - not whether or not we use one particular word or not.

This person has just stereotyped the mentally ill - oh, but his language was perfectly up to PC code, so that's alright then isn't it?

My friend, I am only stating the facts as I see them.
How people address others is their choice, I am only stating things as I see them.

 

[Gadarene]

My friend

Drop the false familiarity, we are not friends.

I am only stating the facts as I see them.
How people address others is their choice, I am only stating things as I see them.

Well, of course you're stating things as you see them, that's what we're all doing here. Anything of actual substance to add instead?

 

[Jesus' Follower]

Drop the false familiarity, we are not friends.



Well, of course you're stating things as you see them, that's what we're all doing here. Anything of actual substance to add instead?

Not with that attitude, I'm resigning from this thread.
Oh and I call everyone "my friend", its a statement of kindness, however I'll make a note not to with you.

 

[seekingsolace]

What I find particularly insidious are remarks used to infer mental illness. Worded in such a way, as to belittle, yet deflect the victims reaction when caught.

It's not really a question of sensitivity, anyone can be hurt by insensitive remarks.

To me this is not an issue, but it does call for a little discernment, and a willingness to apologise. In general, be kinder, because this is certainly lacking.