Words matter

With the recent suicide of Robin Williams, discussion about suicide, depression and mental health are at the forefront of everyone's mind. And if there is anything positive that can come out of this terribly sad loss, it is bringing more awareness to the need to feel like we can talk openly about mental health. To feel like we can say, "I am not OK" without fearing shame and stigma from the people around us.

What I have noticed when reading numerous articles that have come from this loss is the way that people stick a diagnosis on people like a label. That it is as if their mental health diagnosis is who they are, rather than a part of them that they struggle with. Fill in the blank: "I am..... " Bipolar. Schizophrenic. Mentally Ill.

The reality is that while we need to be able to talk about these disorders without shame, our label is still not who we are. We are so much more than that as people. How ridiculous would this sound:

"I'm green eyes"

"I'm polycystic ovarian syndrome"

"I'm cancer"

We don't say those things. We say, "I HAVE cancer". "I HAVE green eyes/brown hair/my dad's nose".

Why does this matter? Because it is so easy to become our label. To wear it like a Scarlet Letter of shame, and say that certain parts of us are not acceptable. We are so much more than our labels, in the same way that our physical appearance are not all of who we are.

People first language matters. Be mindful today of how you label people in any way.

"That autistic kid" becomes "That child with autism"
"That depressed/crazy/anxious person" becomes "He has depression" "She struggles/lives with mental illness"

It only takes seconds.