Why You Should Never Use The Term "Mentally Ill"

Posted on February 6, 2016

“Person-first language is a way to honor the personhood of an individual by separating their identity from any disability or diagnosis he or she might have," said Mr Todd Gibbs who helped carry out the study. The research involved students, professional counsellors and counsellors in training, who also succumbed to the bias.

The study found that even experienced counsellors were more likely to be prejudiced against those referred to as ‘the mentally ill'. The language we use has real effects on our levels of tolerance for people with mental illness.

When you say ‘people with a mental illness,’ you are emphasizing that they aren’t defined solely by their disability. However, when you talk about ‘the mentally ill’ the disability is the entire definition of the person.

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Source material from PSYBLOG