Sunday Newscape Magazine

What we say and how we say it are inextricably connected. The terms we employ issue pictures describing attitudes, feelings. We do not always consciously choose those words, pictures, images. Often they are habituated. We can become inured to the images they form.

In my lifetime I have witnessed two powerful changes in word, picture, image, one through the women's movement and one through the African American movement, both achieved a voice distinctly their own. Through each we recognized word once employed to diminish each, and began employing word to reflect both groups accurately. From those changes we have all benefitted.

How we respond to the concept, image, "mental illness" is changing. The terms we employ are changing, in response to another movement. We are becoming more accurate in our representations. Actual physical reform is occurring, and language is reforming simultaneously. They are inextricably connected.

Many habituated representations continue, change is coming more slowly than in the other two movements, those groups were far more distinctly defined. They coalesced as forces much more easily, skin and gender are powerful uniters. Mental illnesses are not.

Mental illnesses affect every aspect of a society, from the most to the least successful, from the most to the least educated. They affect people regardless of skin or gender, wealth or poverty. Coalescing as a force is much more difficult. Affecting linguistic change is much more difficult.

The term "recovery" entered the field of mental health only in the last decade of the 20th century. Recovery did not, the term itself did. Recovery had always been present (as women and African Americans had always succeeded), the term, however, was not widely employed. We hid the reality. We are now coming to terms with that failure.

The official employment of "recovery" did not achieve a milestone, just a ripple. Several others ripples have followed. Mental "health" appears far more often than "illness," and the plural "mental illnesses" appears far more often than the representation of "mental illness" as a singular "it," a caricature. As we recognized individual physical illnesses and began to address each with research and discovered treatments, we are now beginning to separate "mental illness" into its various illnesses and researching, addressing, treating them individually. And we are beginning to recognize, that like cancer, there are broad distinctions even within a specific illness, like schizophrenia. Our accuracy is improving daily, though slowly.

One inaccuracy appeared in a recent VA press release, "admits."  Soldiers are reluctant to "admit to..." caught my attention.

I have depression, I have a heart condition. Both are serious illnesses, but my choice of "have" is normal parlance for illnesses, "admit" is not. The metaphors, words, pictures images of one aspect of illness, physical illness, apply to all illnesses. I have acquaintances who have schizophrenia, most have their doctoral degrees, I am an educator, one would expect that. I have acquaintances who have bi-polar disorder, most are my educational peers. One would expect that. We tend to gather around us people whom we encounter in our professional relationships.

When depression became a part of my life, the realities of mental illnesses escaped me, the  habituated words, images, pictures persevered. They no longer do. I accurately inform myself. If I want to accurately inform other people about mental health issues, each of my word choices has affect on the images I project. I have become sensitive to the power of what I say and how I say it.  Like women and African Americans, I want the most accurate portrayal I can achieve. Word has the power to inform, I try to employ it wisely.