When researching, there have been some movements to suggest that contemporary mental health is moving towards a more inclusive and language flexible service, however, there were lots of gaps in research along the use of terminology and language. This was interesting, as I believe there is lots more that can be done, to something so trivial and common, that could really promote a difference.
As we move further into the 21st century I believe there is a movement coming; where acceptance is much more prominent and widespread, yet it is still something we need to work on. Together we can make mental health feel less stigmatised, and like a dirty word, and rather embrace it as an obstacle in the path of life.
Normalise the struggle. Normalise the words. Do not use them in vain or in anger. To promote a chance for change, I believe this would have to start within the training of practice and become a forefront of effective practice from the very beginning.
For many years there has been a resistance to mental health care, that was considered oppressive to patients, and coerced them into treatments, and this prompted a service user movement, which Campbell (1996) addresses in his book. This movement prompted more of a co-productive method, whereby people helped each other remove themselves from the statutory services that were provided, and instead offer mutual support, and general help within the community. This allowed these ‘service users’ to take ownership of their label, and make a practice that benefited its people that accessed, but was also user friendly, (Fawcett, 2013). The Time to Change movement was a social uprising whereby they tackled the discrimination and stigma around mental illness. It produces this by promoting behavioural change and educating towards mental health, and how the service users respond themselves, therefore reducing stigma socially. This is an ongoing process using media, education and social movements, and it will be interesting to see how much it truly reduces the discrimination towards mental illness, one I am personally interested in being involved in (Time To Change, 2020). The final movement that is still talked about today is the Mad Pride, which encourages individuals to be ‘proud’ of their identity, mental illness and all. They worked to reclaim back the slang that became stigmatizing such as ‘psycho’ and ‘mad’ to make them positive again, and honor these parts of themselves, (Mental Health Foundation, 2019). This movement provided empowerment for the men who founded it themselves as they claimed back what was theirs and helped inspire others and reeducate the less knowledgeable.
It is significant that although there is much research to educate people about mental illness and the biological basis of the illnesses, people still do not understand it, and discriminate against it (Mental Health Foundation, 2019). Despite all these movements, there is still much more to change to eliminate this.
We must stop using problematic language and defining peoples’ condition by what we think they are experiencing and throwing around ‘killing yourself ‘ like it is a casual thing. These words have impact and are real for people.
Providing a movement in favor of the language being within the clients reach, would be moving for a client as they have a say in how they receive their treatment and what they can get out of it. The evidence from the studies show that when they did make this change, positive outcomes were restored.
However, if mental disorders were normalised would it take away the empowerment you get when you are finally open about your feelings and experiences? Would it take away the feeling of having something that maybe not everyone understands, but you do? I’ll leave you with that thought.
Lets Talk About IT. 