User talk:Tamzin/Guidance for editors with mental illnesses

Mental diagnosis or divergence

Hi. I saw the title of the essay you wrote. I think the term "mental illness" in general (not criticizing you, but the term) is subjective, unscientific, biased, inaccurate. In my personal opinion, a more accurate and encompassing term is mental divergence. Or if you want to go by psychiatrists' notes, mental diagnosis is less judgmental.

It is well known that calling someone mentally ill is an insult in daily conversation. Therefore, it is not in the best interests of people with different capacities to further such stigma. Cheers! Thinker78 (talk) 18:37, 7 October 2022 (UTC)

@Thinker78 I realize I never replied to this. Ideally I'd love to write a full essay on mental illness and neurodivergence. I don't really like the term "mentally ill" either. Tbh if I need to use some "othering" term for myself, I usually say "crazy"—but more often I prefer "plural" for my DID and "neurodivergent" more generally. But I think there's something to be said for recognizable terms, and I think avoiding "mental illness" can have a stigmatizing effect of its own. I don't know. I'll think on it further. -- Tamzin^{[cetacean needed]} (she|they|xe) 19:04, 14 August 2023 (UTC)

I recommend reading the articles titled, "Are mental health diagnoses 'scientifically meaningless'?" and "The Problem Lies in the Term ‘Mental Illness’" Regards, Thinker78 (talk) 22:32, 14 August 2023 (UTC)

References