Sexist Terms Describing Mental Illness
"Ophelia" by Sir John Everett Millais The subject of mental illness is undoubtedly a nuanced one. We have come a long way from past demonized conceptions of it, but we still have quite a ways to go. We continue to throw around terms like "crazy," "insane," "psycho," and the like with little discretion. Many argue that the world has become too sensitive and that it is excessive to be concerned about those terms, but as a person who has thought at times I was going "crazy," the images these words conjure up can be extremely harmful. This is especially so given the context they are used in, and the history they come from. Take psycho for example: It is usually used to describe a deranged state of mind that renders the person little more than an animal; it has acquired the connotation of being homicidal in Norman Bates proportions; it is probably used most often to describe obsessive overemotional girlfriends, which is conflicted...
