Why do the terms, "mentally ill" or "mentally unstable" suddenly sound like insults to me?

[Morituri_Te_Salutant]

Because I swear, I never saw it that way before, up until now; for some reason.
Anytime someone says those words, I nowadays feel like they're shunning someone.

 

[daddy Phil :)]

SAME! I think it's because of how some people use it for themselves, they kinda joke about it and aren't even serious. Like if someone says that they are mentally ill for a joke or something it just makes me mad. :)

 

[BottomlessPit]

For me it's because psychiatry and society at large use these phrases to strip away our competence. According to them, the person who is mentally ill is incapable of making informed and rational decisions for themselves such as whether or not to ctb. What a load of bs.

 

[LastLoveLetter]

Some people use the label "mentally ill" as an insult or out of ignorance, this seems to be especially true for "unstable." I think it's impolite anyway regardless of intention. I am not a "mentally ill/unstable person", I am a person with mental illnesses. I am a person first.

I take issue with the term "mental" illness altogether, because they are taken less seriously than "physical" illnesses. They are physical - they are illnesses of the brain that impact many different areas, including our nerve cells and gray matter. The term "mental" implies to me that these conditions "just happen" in a vacuum, and are treated as inconveniences we can positively think our way out of. Imagine the potential shift in culture if it was labelled a brain disease or illness instead.

I would also contest that society itself is "unstable." They point the finger at us but look at how broken it is. Look at how people who struggle with wanting to die are treated. Look at how the abused, the poor, the homeless, migrants etc are treated. Look at the healthcare system, the class and welfare system, the way things are governed, the way everything is catered to the "mentally stable", able-bodied, "normal" working 9-5 folk. Look at how anyone who does not fit into this neat box is treated. I may struggle with various illnesses - both of the brain and the body - but in some ways I see more clearly how profoundly wrong this is than those without my experiences, who often blindly partake in this catastrophic, cutthroat system. See how discrimination, ruthlessness, money and ostracism underpins the way modern society functions. Society is sick.

 

[RedHarlequin]

I guess mentally ill is alright with me but mentally unstable I find really insulting. Like nobody says a person is physically unstable if they have cancer, what is this shit.

 

[ExhaustedExistence]

I don't like it too. But it's still better than in my native language.

We don't even use the word "ill" like for every other illness. We use more offensive word which we use only with this "phrase".

And we also don't use the exact translation of the word "unstable" like the prefix un and the word stable. We use another more offensive word which is also connected only with this "meaning".

 

[motel rooms]

I take issue with the term "mental" illness altogether, because they are taken less seriously than "physical" illnesses. They are physical - they are illnesses of the brain that impact many different areas, including our nerve cells and gray matter. The term "mental" implies to me that these conditions "just happen" in a vacuum, and are treated as inconveniences we can positively think our way out of. Imagine the potential shift in culture if it was labelled a brain disease or illness instead.

I agree. It's idiotic to separate the mind from the body. There is no mind; there is only the brain, which is just a bodily organ.

 

[Sprite_Geist]

Those terms are often taken out of context and are thrown around in a negative way. For example - when a mass shooting happens there will be comments such as: "I can't believe they have murdered all of those people! They must be sick in the head!". The "sick in the head" part of course refers to having some form of mental issue, as if to imply that an individual must be mentally ill in order to be a horrible person. It is at the point right now that the term(s) have lost the original meaning, and instead "mentally ill" has become synonymous with anyone who is just violent - even if they have nothing wrong with them neurologically.

 

[RayofHope]

When I was growing up it used to be an insult to say "you're mental", ie mad. Awareness of mental illness is really just beginning to break through into public discussion. Hopefully this will lead to better understanding and acceptance.

 

[AE2021]

Your impressions are accurate. Often it is used in a derogatory manner. But hopefully we are raising awareness and some of that will lessen over time. At least that is my hope.

 

[WornOutLife]

Because we might actually not be mentally ill/unstable!

We're just...not normies.

We can't have/are not interested in having a normal life. It's pointless.

Studying, working a slave, getting married, having children, keeping on working as a slave until you're a sick old man/woman and finally die....

IS THAT IT? IS THAT A SO-CALLED BEAUTIFUL LIFE?

I'd rather be "mentally ill/unstable" but at least be the way I am. I love wondering what the hell life, death and this weird universe are, why there is something rather than nothing, afterlife theories, playing videogames, watching anime, etc.

(I've included videogames and anime because my work-mates used to see me as a "freak" because of liking them. I just ignored them because I knew their lives were borring and uneventful.)

Anyway, we're not the problem. This universe and system are what's wrong here.

 

[ExhaustedExistence]

I've included videogames and anime because my work-mates used to see me as a "freak" because of liking them.

I don't understand that. It's really normal hobby. I think the opposite: "Freak" is who doesn't like any kind of videogames lol.

 

[WornOutLife]

I don't understand that. It's really normal hobby. I think the opposite: "Freak" is who doesn't like any kind of videogames lol.

This is why I like you so much!! ;)

 

[blue_muse]

They sound like insults because their aim is to demean someone's value as a human being. Using terms like "mentally ill" or "mentally unstable" is an inherent way of saying the person doesn't have valid emotions and reactions compared to a normal person.

 

[Amumu]

Yet if we want to fight for the pro-choice movement, we'll have to distinguish between two categories : physical illnesses and mental illnesses.
Like that you put everything in "mental illnesses" and people who are just pissed off with life should be included.
Everyone should have access to euthanasia over a certain age whatever the reason. That's my philosophy.

 

[FuneralCry]

Its probably just because of the negative connotations associated with 'ill' and 'unstable', it implies the persons lack of functioning and highlights that they are abnormal. These terms are insensitive in comparison to saying for example 'living with depression'. There is simply a lot of stigma associated with mental illness. People use them in a joking way which invalidates the suffering of those who actually have the condition.