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Original post by SmallTownGirl
No.
Why?
Surely the stigmatism would just move to the new term?
Original post by Keyhofi
Surely the stigmatism would just move to the new term?
True, but this new term/word that people would be stigmatising (brain), has various different possibilities for stigmatisation as opposed to the word 'mental', which is currently (for the most part) seen in a negative light as an insult by people who are totally ignorant of the concept of mental health, and also even mental health illness sufferers themselves.
Therefore, in the same way as you could stigmatise the word 'brain' in a negative way (mental, psychotic, madman, loony etc.), you'd also have to stigmatise the word 'brain' in a positive way (genius, geek/nerd etc.)
Original post by lustawny
Why?
Because the stigma comes from misunderstanding, ignorance and prejudice about different diagnoses. As well as the media's portrayal of mentally ill people as dangerous killers - not only when reporting news but horror movies where the murderer is supposed mentally ill and wearing a strait-jacket and video games set in asylums where the dead patients come back to haunt you. It's when people dress up as a 'mental patient' for Halloween. It's when people used 'psychotic' to mean dangerous, 'psychopath' to mean murderer and 'depressed' to mean sad. It's people who say they are 'a bit OCD' when they mean that they like to have their DVDs in alphabetical order so they can find the one they want quickly. Stigma is when people think that my mental illnesses are something that I can get over through pure willpower. It's when people say 'commit suicide' rather than 'complete suicide' or 'die by suicide'. It's when people say suicide is selfish. It's when people say self-harming is 'attention-seeking' without understanding why people self-harm and that actually if you're struggling with your mental health you might not know how to reach out to someone and that if someone is 'attention-seeking' (and not all self-harmers are) then that isn't automatically a reason to ignore their suffering.
Stigma is all this and much more. A 'rebrand' won't get rid of this. The only way to decrease stigma is to talk more and force people to understand.
Original post by lustawny
True, but this new term/word that people would be stigmatising (brain), has various different possibilities for stigmatisation as opposed to the word 'mental', which is currently (for the most part) seen in a negative light as an insult by people who are totally ignorant of the concept of mental health, and also even mental health illness sufferers themselves.
Therefore, in the same way as you could stigmatise the word 'brain' in a negative way (mental, psychotic, madman, loony etc.), you'd also have to stigmatise the word 'brain' in a positive way (genius, geek/nerd etc.)
Therefore, in the same way as you could stigmatise the word 'brain' in a negative way (mental, psychotic, madman, loony etc.), you'd also have to stigmatise the word 'brain' in a positive way (genius, geek/nerd etc.)
Saying you have brain problems infers that there is something medically wrong with you. Mental problems on the other hand infer something that isn't physical and can therefore be fixed with time.
Original post by SmallTownGirl
Because the stigma comes from misunderstanding, ignorance and prejudice about different diagnoses. As well as the media's portrayal of mentally ill people as dangerous killers - not only when reporting news but horror movies where the murderer is supposed mentally ill and wearing a strait-jacket and video games set in asylums where the dead patients come back to haunt you. It's when people dress up as a 'mental patient' for Halloween. It's when people used 'psychotic' to mean dangerous, 'psychopath' to mean murderer and 'depressed' to mean sad. It's people who say they are 'a bit OCD' when they mean that they like to have their DVDs in alphabetical order so they can find the one they want quickly. Stigma is when people think that my mental illnesses are something that I can get over through pure willpower. It's when people say 'commit suicide' rather than 'complete suicide' or 'die by suicide'. It's when people say suicide is selfish. It's when people say self-harming is 'attention-seeking' without understanding why people self-harm and that actually if you're struggling with your mental health you might not know how to reach out to someone and that if someone is 'attention-seeking' (and not all self-harmers are) then that isn't automatically a reason to ignore their suffering.
Stigma is all this and much more. A 'rebrand' won't get rid of this. The only way to decrease stigma is to talk more and force people to understand.
Stigma is all this and much more. A 'rebrand' won't get rid of this. The only way to decrease stigma is to talk more and force people to understand.
Oooorrr... Dispose of all the misunderstanders?
Use of language highly influences how people reaction to issues, if it were referred to as brain health, people would take it more seriously. The only danger is the confusion which would arise between what you are actually referring to and diseases such as dementia, equally it does in my opinion imply that psychological issues are neurological in origin.
Original post by Zargabaath
Because it sounds dumb lmao
A very logical argument there. Well done.
Original post by Keyhofi
Saying you have brain problems infers that there is something medically wrong with you. Mental problems on the other hand infer something that isn't physical and can therefore be fixed with time.
I'm sure many of you guys had a 'brain problem' to solve in your revision/coursework this morning.
Original post by lustawny
A very logical argument there. Well done.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with my arguement. If it sounds dumb people aren't going to take it seriously. Brain Health sounds like something Simple Jack from Tropic Thunder would say.
Original post by Zargabaath
There is absolutely nothing wrong with my arguement. If it sounds dumb people aren't going to take it seriously. Brain Health sounds like something Simple Jack from Tropic Thunder would say.
I rest my case.
Original post by Zargabaath
You think making a typo rests your case on flawed logic? Lol maybe your Brain Health needs to be looked at.
No, it's just the fact that you contradicted yourself in the very same post where you're saying there's nothing wrong with the argument that you expect me to look at.
I've just never seen that done on here before...
I guess the concept of what you are saying does make sort of sense.
It's like the word *******- because the charity used to be called the ******* Society and then it became derogatory so they changed it to Scope.
But I think with Mental Health, the stigma comes from ignorance and because it is 'of the brain' people find it difficult to relate and empathise.
The real key to reducing stigma is by talking about it, being open and honest, and educating others. This is much more powerful than a change in terminology.
I guess there is a physiological basis of mental health - how the brain processes information and sizes of structures etc. so moving to a place where people accept that it is not necessarily within your control as it is the way your brain is wired would be helpful to reduce the judgements and assumptions. But because we still don't have an exact handle of the causes of MH conditions this also presents a challenge.
It's like the word *******- because the charity used to be called the ******* Society and then it became derogatory so they changed it to Scope.
But I think with Mental Health, the stigma comes from ignorance and because it is 'of the brain' people find it difficult to relate and empathise.
The real key to reducing stigma is by talking about it, being open and honest, and educating others. This is much more powerful than a change in terminology.
I guess there is a physiological basis of mental health - how the brain processes information and sizes of structures etc. so moving to a place where people accept that it is not necessarily within your control as it is the way your brain is wired would be helpful to reduce the judgements and assumptions. But because we still don't have an exact handle of the causes of MH conditions this also presents a challenge.
Original post by lustawny
No, it's just the fact that you contradicted yourself in the very same post where you're saying there's nothing wrong with the argument that you expect me to look at.
I've just never seen that done on here before...
I've just never seen that done on here before...
Explain the contradiction, I don't see it.
Original post by Zargabaath
Explain the contradiction, I don't see it.
Brain health sounds less serious to me for some reason, like you have physical and you have mental health. Brain health is like the way you would explain the meaning of mental health to a 5 year old.
I think when it comes to mental health itself people have understood it much better, there's less of a stigma. However when people talk about someone they saw in the newspaper going on a shooting spree or something and say he's "mental" and people who use "mental" as an insult or "mentally unstable". It's like people who say "are you retarded?" or "are you dumb?" or "are you autistic?" as an insult. It doesn't mean retarded/ dumb/ autistic people are thought of in a bad way, it's just the use of the term in the different contexts. People know what autism and mental retardation are, and they know they're serious and they understand that, and that is not affected by the usage of these terms in those contexts.
I think when it comes to mental health itself people have understood it much better, there's less of a stigma. However when people talk about someone they saw in the newspaper going on a shooting spree or something and say he's "mental" and people who use "mental" as an insult or "mentally unstable". It's like people who say "are you retarded?" or "are you dumb?" or "are you autistic?" as an insult. It doesn't mean retarded/ dumb/ autistic people are thought of in a bad way, it's just the use of the term in the different contexts. People know what autism and mental retardation are, and they know they're serious and they understand that, and that is not affected by the usage of these terms in those contexts.
It says your OP is from 1970. That's weird
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