LANE EASA

PEACEHEALTH2411 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR BLVDEUGENE, OR 97401

LORRAINE KERWOOD LMSW, CSWALKERWOOD@PEACEHEALTH.ORGDESK: 541-682-5272 CELL: 541-214-5372

WHO YOU CALLING CRAZY?USING RESPECTFUL LANGUAGE IN TREATMENT SETTINGS

In my presentation, I will offer a positive and alternative view wherein we, as service providers, can ensure that the words and language we use is respectful, and that it accurately reflects back to participants the “whole” of who they are.

Language has great power to reshape the ways participants view themselves – providing feedback that empowers and offers new life stories that include possibilities and hope.

THE WORDS WE USE IN OUR CLINICAL PRACTICE, WHEN THOUGHTFULLY CHOSEN, CAN BE USED TO CHANGE THE CULTURE THAT CURRENTLY EXISTS WITHIN THE MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEM AT LARGE, A CULTURE

THAT OFTEN SHAMES AND MARGINALIZES THE PEOPLE WE DESIRE TO SERVE.

-BENJAMIN WHORF

“Language is not simply a reporting device for experience but a defining framework for i

t.”

 “LANGUAGE DOES HAVE THE POWER TO CHANGE REALITY. THEREFORE, TREAT YOUR WORDS AS THE MIGHTY INSTRUMENTS THEY ARE…”

DAPHNE ROSE KINGMA

Language shapes the way we see and interpret the world. The pejorative and/or non-respectful language we use with and about our clients influences the way we think about them, and the ways they think about themselves.

While we may think we’re simply being “casual,” in fact non-respectful language dehumanizes clients and enforces the “power over” structures most mental health professionals would tell you they are working to mitigate.

WORDS HAVE POWER“Words have power. They have the power to teach, the power to wound, the power to shape the way people think, feel, and act toward others. When a stigmatized group of people, such as those with mental illnesses, is struggling for increased understanding and acceptance, attention to the language used in talking and writing about them is particularly important."”

—Otto Wahl

~ SAMSHA, THE 10 FUNDAMENTAL COMPONENTS OF RECOVERY

Community, systems, and societal acceptance and appreciation of consumers—including protecting their rights and eliminating discrimination and stigma—are crucial in achieving recovery. Self-acceptance and regaining belief in one's self are particularly vital.

IF THOUGHT CORRUPTS LANGUAGE, LANGUAGE CAN ALSO CORRUPT THOUGHT.” 

GEORGE ORWELL

STEPHEN PINKER COINED THE PHRASE "EUPHEMISM TREADMILL" IN HIS BOOK, THE BLANK SLATE.

HE WAS ALLUDING TO OUR TENDENCY TO USE NEW WORDS TO REPLACE OLD WORDS THAT HAVE BECOME OFFENSIVE, WHICH THEN BECOME OFFENSIVE THEMSELVES.

AN EXAMPLE OF THIS IS THE TERM "EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED," WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY MEANT TO DESCRIBE PEOPLE WITH VARIOUS KINDS OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS. HOWEVER IN RECENT YEARS IT'S COME TO BE A PEJORATIVE IN AND OF ITSELF.

STEVEN PINKER COINED THE TERM:"EUPHEMISM TREADMILL"

WHAT DOES PERSON-FIRST LANGUAGE MEAN?

•Names the person first and the condition second; for example, a "person with a disability" rather than a "disabled person." It's about making the disability a secondary attribute, not a primary characteristic.

•The term "person-first language" originally appeared in 1988 as recommended by US advocacy groups.

WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF REFERRING TO PEOPLE AS ILLNESS?

MY BROTHER IS SCHIZOPHRENIC

MY MOM IS ANOREXIC

THAT PATIENT IS BIPOLAR

WHAT HAVE YOUR HEARD ABOUT “CRAZY” PEOPLE?

SHE’S SUCH A DRAMA QUEEN

HE IS SUCH A NUT JOB

THAT PATIENT IS BIPOLAR

• PEOPLE MAY INTERNALIZE THE NEGATIVE ATTITUDES

• PEOPLE MAY FEEL ASHAMED

• PEOPLE MAY BLAME THEMSELVES FOR THEIR DIFFICULTIES

• PEOPLE MAY LOSE CONFIDENCE IN THEIR ABILITIES

• PEOPLE MAYBE BECOME DEMORALIZED

• PEOPLE MAY DIRECT THEIR ANGER AND HELPLESSNESS BACK UPON THEMSELVES

EFFECTS OF NEGATIVE WORDS

• promote recovery and hope

• put the person first and her or his diagnosis or circumstances last

• recognize the individual's inherent strengths

• help people identify their challenges, needs, and barriers as a part of their experience rather than labeling them as weaknesses, problems, or deficits that imply that they are broken or their experience is "abnormal"

Recovery-based language is the use of words that:

HOW CAN WE PROMOTE BEST PRACTICES IN LANGUAGE USE?

• name the individual illness rather than label the person (person-first language)

• avoid generic stereotypes (i.e., not "the" mentally ill; there are many mental illnesses)

• recognize that people with disabilities have many differences: what they most often have in common is the prejudice they face

• involve participants in the mental health profession (i.e., use their voice in writing grants, editing articles, participating in advisory boards)

• model respectful language ALL the time, with EVERYONE

WHO CAUSES NO COMMUNITY DISTURBANCE MAY BE DEEMED “IMPROVED”

A QUIET PARTICIPANT

MAY BE CONSIDERED “UNCOOPERATIVE” “NON-COMPLAINT” AND, THEREFORE FAILED THE PROVIDER - RATHER THAN THE OTHER WAY AROUND

A “TREATMENT RESISTANT” PARTICIPANT

US - THEM TERMS• decompensating: when “we”

experience stress, we might not do well

• “we” may get bummed out, get burned out, be short with our co-workers, call in sick, or need a leave of absence

• “they” decompensate

LANGUAGE OF US/THEM BY MAYER SHEVIN

We like things     They fixate on objects   We try to make friends     They display attention seeking behavior   We take breaks     They display off task behavior

We stand up for ourselves     They are non-compliant

We have hobbies     They self-stim

We choose our friends wisely     They display poor peer socialization

We persevere     They perseverate

We like people     They have dependencies on people

We go for a walk     They run away

We insist     They tantrum

We change our minds     They are disoriented and have short attention spans

We have talents     They have splinter skills

We are human     They are . . . ?

SOME MENTAL HEALTH STIGMATIZING WORDS TO AVOID ARE:

MENTALLY ILL WACKO DEMENTED EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED CUCKOO SCREW LOOSE

INSANE MENTAL BRAIN DEAD

CRAZY DERANGED HIGH OR LOW FUNCTIONING

ODD MAD DELUSIONAL ABNORMAL LOOPY CASE

PSYCHO OUT OF IT DECOMPENSATE

MANIAC SLOW DEMENTED LUNATIC NUTS MESSED UPLOONEY DISTURBED SCHZIO

VIEW VIDEO AT: http://www.youtube.com/watc

h?v=Wv49RFo1ckQ&noredirect

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–FRED ROGERS

“Part of the problem with the word 'disabilities' is that it

immediately suggests an inability to see or hear or walk or do other

things that many of us take for granted. But what of people who

can't feel? Or talk about their feelings? Or manage their

feelings in constructive ways? What of people who aren't able to

form close and strong relationships? And people who cannot find fulfillment in their lives, or those who have lost

hope, who live in disappointment and bitterness and find in life no joy, no love? These, it seems to me, are the real disabilities.”