Words Matter
Harold Maio, MA and Sylvia Caras, Ph D
| + | Words Matter: "It is
language that provides the key tool for communicating prejudice interpersonally and
cross-generationally." Mass, A and Arcuri, L., *Language and Stereotyping* in Stereotypes and Stereotyping, Macrae et all, eds. 1996, New York: Guilford, p 193. The beginning of wisdom is calling things by their right
name. "Changing how the public labels categories changes the associations those labels invoke in people's minds, which in turn changes their affective attitudes toward what is being described." David Green, Hofstra University
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- rhetoric appeals to the emotions instead of to reason |
| have | she has a toothache he has depression |
burden afflicted struggling victims |
| a person who | people with psychiatric disabilities are not generic people with psychiatric disabilities are not homogeneous the use of the definite and indefinite articles imply an erroneous commonality that depersonalizes and thus devalues |
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| have experience |
she has a diagnosis he hears voices they experience fear |
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| mental illnesses schizophrenias |
these descriptors collect many many different syndromes and disorders that are not homogeneous | |
| health disability cross-disability |
health is seamless; if you must distinguish, you can say
mental health/ other health mental disability is included in disability |
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| person-first | person before any descriptor person diagnosed with schizophrenia person who has mood swings person who has anxiety person who has a psychiatric disability |
non-compliant |
| discrimination prejudice |
mental health specific words add to separation and shaming and stereotype | |
| universal coverage | it is disparity when the only forced treatment coverage is for mental illnesses | |
| less visible | mental illnesses may not be as visible as some other disabilities, but in English, hidden often suggests a reason to be secretive, ashamed | |
| with | primary service users are full partners in all aspects of services | |
| choices | the right to treatment has come to mean the right to be coerced into treatment | |
| affirm value |
prefixing prejudical words with "not" effectively plants the negative in the listener's ear | |
| alternatives |
exceptionalizing life's vicissitudes is prejudicial | |
| experiences | creates barriers to peer support and peer organizing; divisive | low-functioning |
| self-determination integration |
many are not returning or rediscovering; instead they are designing a new self and style, transforming themselves |
At its September 00 meeting, the Center for Mental Health Services National Advisory Council accepted the recommendation of its Subcommittee on Consumer/Survivor Issues to amend the word "stigma," whenever used, to be "discrimination and stigma."
© Sylvia Caras 2001. Appreciations to Kathryn Cohan for formatting. Last edited 02/18/05