Argue About Words

We do not participate in terminological controversies (debates over the best words to use).

“Mental illness” and “mental disorder” are controversial terms. Some people embrace them; some think that they are not valid concepts; some find them stigmatizing. Some embrace the term “madness” and describe themselves as “mad” rather than “mentally ill”; some apply the broad term “psychosocialdisability” to what others would describe as “madness,” “mental illness,” or “extreme state.” Among those who reject the concept of “mental illness/disorder,” some accept terms like “psychosis,” “delusions,” “hallucinations”; others use different words and expressions for the states conventionally described by these terms.

For the perspective of those embracing the term “mental illness,” see, for example, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and Mental Illness Policy. For the perspective of those rejecting the term “mental illness” see, for example, ISEPP and MindFreedom.

We follow the SAMHSA Guide to Equity Terminology: “Acknowledge and respect how people choose to define and identify themselves.” In our conversations, everyone is free to use the language of their choice without any censure. For example, in our personal stories, one author may talk about “psychosis,” another about “an extreme state,” or about “hearing voices and seeing visions.” To describe your own experience on this website, feel free to use any terms you are comfortable with.

For a better understanding of how different ways to describe one’s psychological suffering affects the individual, see the story of Rose Cartwright, who rejected the idea that she had mental illness after years of being “the poster girl for obsessive-compulsive disorder,” and the blog post by David Mordecai, who is diagnosed with bipolar disorder and embraces “bipolarity as a neurodivergent identity.”