Trending: Mental Health Stigma

Recently, I've noticed people on social media, especially Twitter, saying something that seems to be a sort of slang that goes a little too far, especially when I think about the fact that we're still dealing with a heavy layer of mental health stigma as a society. Lately, I've been seeing people mention a personality trait, habit, or behavior and then say, "that's mental illness" as a way to emphasize that they don't like whatever the trait, habit, or behavior is. Not only are statements like those judgmental and unkind, but they also keep the mental health stigma alive and well. 

The knee-jerk reaction to my assertion about the mental health stigma related to the above-mentioned statements might be to think that I'm just nit-picking. People might roll their eyes and think, "Oh, come on. It's just the newest trend in harmless Internet speak. It'll pass soon enough." You might be right that the trend will pass relatively quickly, but it probably won't pass before somebody in your friend group or family who quietly lives with a mental illness is negatively affected by it.

Statements like the ones I mentioned above turn neutral terms like "mental illness" and "mentally ill" into an insult. When terms like "mental illness" and "mentally ill" are used to convey a dislike of annoying habits or even some problematic behaviors, then being annoying or a "problematic person" can become another generalization about or even another stereotype of mental illness. Once a generalization like that becomes thought of as common knowledge and a stereotype like that makes its way through society, then all people with a mental health condition start being thought of as an annoying and/or problematic person just because they have a mental illness, which can make things like entering into and maintaining a relationship or even finding employment even more difficult when or if they disclose the mental health condition. This extra layer of difficulty can lead even more people to refuse to get a diagnosis and treatment because they don't want to have to deal with the negative assumptions that society will make about them.

Using terms like "mental illness" and "mentally ill" as an insult is hurtful on a deeper level as well. Calling something like a habit or a behavior a mental illness just because you don't like or agree with it trivializes the struggle and pain of living with an actual mental illness. When words like "mental illness" and "mentally ill" start getting thrown around to mean or describe anything less than the actual, diagnosable conditions that take people's lives, the whole concept of mental illness can be seen as less serious than it should be. The mental health stigma already tells society that mental health conditions aren't real health conditions; we don't need slang on the Internet to play up that idea and make it even harder to fight that piece of the stigma.

I'll end with this: I know trends and slang change quickly, especially on the Internet. However, just because things like that come and go relatively quickly doesn't mean that they don't hurt people even after the words and their "updated" meanings have changed or faded from use. The words we use and the way we speak to and about other people matter. Calling something a mental illness that you don't like or agree with isn't only judgmental and unkind; it also helps the mental health stigma maintain its hold in society and makes life that much more difficult for people with actual mental illness.