We at DBSA have regular conversation about the use of compassionate language. I have shared this with our Peer and Policy Advancement team to reaffirm this work. Many thanks.
Also, about suicide: My mother attempted suicide when I was young. Maybe it's a matter of perspective, but if she had succeeded, I would say that she committed suicide. Suicide (and suicide attempts) are not victimless if you have children. Attempting or committing suicide as a parent is an act of harm on your children. My mother's suicide attempt was an act committed on me, even if that was not her intention.
Is there any room for different perspectives? I have a mental illness (and am autistic) and come from a family with a long and traumatic history of mental illness and undiagnosed neurodivergence. Crazy as an adjective describing an occurrence that's outside the norm, wild, etc. doesn't bother me at all. It seems to me to be a fundamentally different use of the word. Dismissing someone as "crazy" because you disagree with what they say or because they're acting in a way you don't understand - that is stigmatizing. But to me the other usage is so far removed from the origin that it's practically a different word. Having to constantly monitor my speech for etymological connections is really difficult for me due to both my mental illness (OCD) and the way my autism manifests. In some cases it is the difference between me being able to have a voice and not have a voice. I wish there was a cost-benefit discussion that considered both the value of making changes like this and the costs (particularly to vulnerable people), instead of pretending there are no costs whatsoever. In this case, for me, the harm of constant self-monitoring outweighs the good.
We at DBSA have regular conversation about the use of compassionate language. I have shared this with our Peer and Policy Advancement team to reaffirm this work. Many thanks.
Also, about suicide: My mother attempted suicide when I was young. Maybe it's a matter of perspective, but if she had succeeded, I would say that she committed suicide. Suicide (and suicide attempts) are not victimless if you have children. Attempting or committing suicide as a parent is an act of harm on your children. My mother's suicide attempt was an act committed on me, even if that was not her intention.
Is there any room for different perspectives? I have a mental illness (and am autistic) and come from a family with a long and traumatic history of mental illness and undiagnosed neurodivergence. Crazy as an adjective describing an occurrence that's outside the norm, wild, etc. doesn't bother me at all. It seems to me to be a fundamentally different use of the word. Dismissing someone as "crazy" because you disagree with what they say or because they're acting in a way you don't understand - that is stigmatizing. But to me the other usage is so far removed from the origin that it's practically a different word. Having to constantly monitor my speech for etymological connections is really difficult for me due to both my mental illness (OCD) and the way my autism manifests. In some cases it is the difference between me being able to have a voice and not have a voice. I wish there was a cost-benefit discussion that considered both the value of making changes like this and the costs (particularly to vulnerable people), instead of pretending there are no costs whatsoever. In this case, for me, the harm of constant self-monitoring outweighs the good.