It's probably the best move just to play it safe. I can always use the words "nonsensical" or "irrational" or "absurd" instead.
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Stop using mental illnesses as adjectives
- Thread starter Realeza
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It's probably the best move just to play it safe. I can always use the words "nonsensical" or "irrational" or "absurd" instead.
Wow.
People just say "shaking like Michael J Fox" instead.
styl3s
Member
Some people are worse off and some people don't actually have problems but don't try to belittle people's problems because they aren't as bad as others. I have dealt with depression for 30 years and not once have thought about killing myself but that didn't stop me from not leaving my house for months, leaving my bed for days.
I agree that some people normalize it but it doesn't mean some of them don't actually suffer from things and not everyone has extreme cases of all these illnesses.
That's stupid.
Crazy isn't a medical condition. People don't have 'crazy'. Pretty ridiculous to be offended by that.
A Fish Aficionado
I am going to make it through this year if it kills me
Well that's different. "Mental" is mostly innocent, just like in American vernacular "crazy."
It's only when you use terms like OCD, or autism, as a put down, or a verb.
Lord Error
Insane For Sony
It all started with Idiot. I believe that word has been decommissioned from the medial vocabulary precisely because it was so frequently used out of context.
Would be my reaction too, if I hadn't seen it firsthand over and over and over and over again these last few months.
I am a little more attuned with the reverse issue, people assume that to be legitimate mental illness it has to manifest in an obvious way. Washing your hands until they bleed is actually a fairly severe version of OCD, it can also just be an particular anxiety/depression that a person hides to seem normal and while they look fine they feel like shit on the inside. It's exceptionally clear to me that word policing is always the red herring for fixing something. This deals with the socio-cultural issue that makes humans feel better but rarely provides more than a topical cure.
I will say the fact that people reference in pop-culture does demonstrates at least some awareness which shows you are higher on the shitty conditions status ranking. Try something a little more obscure. "I'm exhausted like Hashimoto's!" Nobody knows what you are talking about, which usually indicates nobody cares about that condition.
I will say the fact that people reference in pop-culture does demonstrates at least some awareness which shows you are higher on the shitty conditions status ranking. Try something a little more obscure. "I'm exhausted like Hashimoto's!" Nobody knows what you are talking about, which usually indicates nobody cares about that condition.
Sinfamy
Member
Give me a break.
What you're describing are the most adverse effects of these mental illnesses, but like everything else, they're on a spectrum.
Saying that you exhibit some common traits of them doesn't take away from those who have a legitimate diagnosis.
I can say I feel depressed without a prescription for Zoloft.
What you're describing are the most adverse effects of these mental illnesses, but like everything else, they're on a spectrum.
Saying that you exhibit some common traits of them doesn't take away from those who have a legitimate diagnosis.
I can say I feel depressed without a prescription for Zoloft.
Perhaps, but often times "fucking" is not related to actual sexual intercourse in any way as compared to the use of "rape".
Like, "there's no fucking way this could happen." has absolutely no connection to actual sex vs. "dude, we got raped out there." which requires a knowledge of what "rape" actually is in order to understand the meaning.
A Fish Aficionado
I am going to make it through this year if it kills me
And here we have the token post who just doesn't get it.
Would you say the same to cancer victim? AIDS? Diabetics?
"Oh, god. I need warfarin!"
I don't even know anyone with autism personally but I absolutely hate this.
UncleSporky
Member
I suppose, though people also say "dude we just got fucked."
Massive Duck. C.M.
Banned
You may need a prescription for stronger glasses
Yes to both of these and this shit doesn't bother me
ugaboga232
Member
Personally I feel tired like sub-acute granulomatous.
my boards are in a week save me
Hopefully we can move forward on the nature of mental health and illness in a societal discussion but to fully understand the nature of these problems, it would require the illusion that we control our behaviors to be dispelled which is not an easy one to break.
People make light of all of those things, so I'm not sure what your point is.
Also under most circumstances I can't even think where you'd use those diseases as adjectives.
Problem is people aren't actually exhibiting common traits of the illness. Saying, "I'm pretty OCD" when referring to the fact that you like to make your bed every morning really undercuts what OCD actually is. Liking to make your bed every morning is not a trait of OCD.
A Fish Aficionado
I am going to make it through this year if it kills me
And those people are horrible. This is just an extension.
No, but crazy is a layman way for someone to reference someone who may have a mental disease or exhibiting the symptoms but the accusatory individual may not know the exact name or terminology for said disease
Also, don't go around calling people crazy
Exactly.
Saying you are depressed when you are just sad leads people to the common misconception that people who are depressed just need to "cheer up"
And that attitude has done actual harm to my life and many others.
Holy Order Sol
Member
Yeah. Fuck that.
I think the bigger issue is that mental illness is often stigmatized. Like, with "autistic" or "retarded" - it wouldn't be an insult if people didn't feel that the comparison is a negative one.
And when you boil it down, most insults derive from othering like that. "Ugly" and "stupid" people don't choose to be that way, but they're free to be insulted for it. People just have an inclination to categorize and debase.
Freeing people of the impulse to other-ize is a damn near unwinnable battle.
And when you boil it down, most insults derive from othering like that. "Ugly" and "stupid" people don't choose to be that way, but they're free to be insulted for it. People just have an inclination to categorize and debase.
Freeing people of the impulse to other-ize is a damn near unwinnable battle.
In that usage, I can see an argument being made. Especially because "fucked" in that case actually is closer in meaning to "raped." Like when someone does something to you that you don't want or enjoy and you say they "fucked" you. Yeah, that's pretty rapey...
BossDarkseid
Member
In almost every Overwatch match I play someone used autistic or retarded as an adjective and as someone on the spectrum it's...disheartening to say the least. Lots of people have used it here on GAF, and get angry if you ask them to refrain
Dr_Boris_Goltz
Banned
I'm diagnosed OCD (intrusive thoughts mostly) but I'm not really bothered by this. Even though I'm diagnosed I'll attribute things to "my OCD" knowing they really have nothing to do with it.
PeskyToaster
Member
Phobia has also been adopted is way too. I mean most people who are described as homophobic, islamophoic, or xenophobic aren't having panic attacks or displaying really any of the symptoms of a medically diagnosable phobia. It's an excellent bit of marketing though because it portrays it as a fear meaning that the people who have the label applied to them are weak and scared but it's kind of insulting to people with actual phobias.
Massive Duck. C.M.
Banned
Now this is a stretch
I agree that retarded should never be used to describe something that is "dumb." I think it's important though for people to understand that the language in psychology is constantly evolving. Many people don't know that the words "moron", "imbecile", and "idiot" were all psychological terms just as "mentally retarded" was - which people freely use in their vocabulary today. We have moved away from "mentally retarded" and it is now referred to as an intellectual disability, so it'll be interesting to see if years to come whether "retarded" is freely used just as idiot and moron are.
AppleSeason
Member
Sadly I have depressive episodes, severe anxiety issues, suicide thoughts (luckily this has not happened in a few months) and a diagnosis. Sometimes sucks to be able to have certain words privileges. It's hard to believe that I never ended in cutting myself. Self harmed in other ways, though
My appointment to (hopefully) be diagnosed is this upcoming April. I'll admit to using the term OCD this way many times, truthfully believing it's the reason for the things I do when I say that. Would you still say I should refrain from using the term in those situations? A friend of mine was very open about his depression and has inspired me to be forthcoming to people about my own inadequacies in the same way. It helps me deal with the issue, coming to terms with it.
In almost every Overwatch match I play someone used autistic or retarded as an adjective and as someone on the spectrum it's...disheartening to say the least. Lots of people have used it here on GAF, and get angry if you ask them to refrain
Not surprising, a few of my old friends used to use that type of language far too much for me to be comfortable with to the point where I have completely cut ties with them and avoid social situations in which there is a chance I see them.
They're jerks and they aren't worth it. It's really why every game needs "avoid this player" for legit reasons even though some people will abuse the tool to avoid losing to good players.
frankie_baby
Member
While i know everyone is different i know a few people with actual diagnosed OCD and they are they not only often make light of their own condition they will quite happily refer to others behaviour as being OCD
The Real Abed
Perma-Junior
The only one I used to use is the OCD one but I've stopped for the most part but i don't know why. What else am I supposed to say? What if it is OCD? I mean it is obsessive and compulsive for me sometimes. But maybe it's not a disorder? Is that the problem?
The bipolar one I've never seen anyone use before. Like at all.
The bipolar one I've never seen anyone use before. Like at all.
PeskyToaster
Member
You don't think it's a bit of a mislabel though? None of those things are real phobias. It's a label to say you don't hate them because of x or y, you hate them because you're scared and a coward. While it's probably true, it's not a real phobia.
I've seen this argument many times before and while I appreciate the veracity to it, I do think that at some point people need to break the cycle and stop appropriating medical or cultural terminology to use as insults. Yes, words like "idiot" or "moron" used to be official descriptors, but then people started using them as insults so they had to change the word. Now communities feel they can't use the word "retard" because it has also been turned into an insult. And when people start using the new terms as insults, they'll have to change yet again.
It's easy to point to the history of language and say, "This is just something that happens. Get over it." without thinking about the experiences of real people who had to live through those transitions, watching a term used to describe them be turned into a widespread insult. We should hold ourselves and others accountable to stop this cycle from continuing to marginalize these groups.
Not a mental illness but I find it quite annoying when people do this with diabetes and sugar. Like they post a photo of lots of chocolate and comment stuff like 'lol gonna get diabetes!!" or similar comments/tags. Or the old joke with 'John has 50 candy bars and eats 45, how many does he have? John has diabetes.' It's a bit more complex than that.
Mistake
Member
To point out the obvious, none of these conditions is a desireable trait, so people are going to say it regardless.
you actually can get diabetes from an improper diet though. Some people don't realize there are thin people with it. Type 1 right? Type 2 is the worse one?
TemplaerDude
Member
While things are a little better these days, there is still incredibly little respect for mental illness beyond accepting that it is a thing that people suffer from.
Keep fighting the good fight, OP. You're on the right side of things.
Keep fighting the good fight, OP. You're on the right side of things.
Count Dookkake
Member
U mad?
Massive Duck. C.M.
Banned
Phobia just means fear and the various -phobias out there very greatly in strength.
There's a phobia for holes, it's not that deep.
Using a complex mental illness as shorthand for one's behavior based a trait that it may or may not have in common isn't really the same thing
Paracelsus
Member
He's right, if "autism" became hate speech (with all the legal consequences) or at the absolute least bannable offense, a lot of places outside of gaf would do semi-desert.
Yeah but an improper diet can be more than just sugar. If you are healthy, eating 45 candy bars one day is not going to give you diabetes. You might even be overweight and still have a very sugar heavy and bad diet and still not get diabetes Type 2. It's a mix of genetics, diet and lifestyles, it's not from eating too much sugar once in awhile. Also there's Type 1 diabetes which I have, and that has absolutely nothing to do with your diet, so it gets tiresome when people joke about too much sugar leading to diabetes.
A lot of people also die from diabetes. I think more people die from diabetes than from AIDS and breast cancer combined or something like that. Still joking about those two things are seen as very bad taste, but lol diabeetus is sort of ignored. I don't know, people will be people I guess and say awful stuff. It's a bit sad that it's just a joke to some people though, and they often think it's the person with diabtes' own fault for having it. They're probably just ignorant, but that says something about how little people know about diabetes which is a pretty serious thing!
J_Macgrady
Member
As someone with a history of life threatening mental illnesses, I've learned to just remove myself from people if they talked like that. It hasn't happened to me frequently, but I noticed a lot of conversations that revolve around making people more sensitive to some topic or group of people is just a complete waste of my time. I ain't got control over people's thoughts or actions and I'm not gonna pretend that I do. I'm just gonna live a peaceful happy life and keep it moving. All of that conversation shit doesn't change anything so why bother.
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