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 in and of itself. Each example is harmful in its own way, but I would like to focus particularly on the last aspect--gendered associations with mental illness. The animalistic and homicidal associations with psychosis are--hopefully--obviously seen to be offensive. Talking about the misogynistic influences on how we perceive mental illness may seem like a feminist overreach, but the fact that we have normalized these influences into obscurity show how dangerously accustomed we have become to them.  Many of the terms we flippantly use today have sexist overtones because of how they have been used in the past. 

The ailment of psychosis, was predominantly prescribed to women by doctors in the past. Being the delicate and breakable creatures that women were, any intense form of emotion was viewed as dangerous and categorized as "womanly." Clearly, this did nothing to help deleterious conceptions of masculinity and not showing emotion. Since toxic masculinity is measured by the supposed frailty of women, this further debased how women were viewed. It made them appear to be subject to the ebb and flow of their feelings, always on the precipice of madness, rather than being viewed as rational people.

Maggie Smith as Lady Macbeth

A woman's descent into insanity is a famous poetic and literary trope. When grief strikes a man, he is typically portrayed as an incensed crusader for revenge. When grief strikes a woman, she is typically dramatized as beside herself in sadness and agony, weeping and wailing for all to hear, and completely bereft of her faculties and health, such as being bed-stricken for inordinate amounts of time or aimlessly wandering and whispering incoherent babble. While these characteristics are common symptoms of various mental disorders, they almost always seem to be associated with being the "weaker vessel" as a woman. It originates from being a particular gender.

This has become such an accepted trope that is regarded as the rule, not the exception for our perception of mental illness:

Ophelia, Lady Macbeth, Bertha Rochester from Jane Eyre, Miss Havisham from Great Expectations, the narrator in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper," Stephen King's Carrie, most horror films--the list goes on. We have learned to spot and fear women who are portrayed as "deranged."

Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham.

In the past, the few examples of "madness" that are demonstrated by male characters are typically categorized by intense fits of rage and violence. In other words, they have just taken their role as a fierce masculine warrior and applied it out of its appropriate context. Rather than originating from being a weak gender, it originates in misused strength and battle prowess. The distinction is striking.

Yes, the men we call "psycho" are extreme. The women we call "psycho" are everyday females painted by a one-sided male story. No wonder it sounds strange to our modern ear to hear the term "psycho boyfriend." The history of being "crazy," "insane," or "psycho" has made it comical to imagine an overly emotional and obsessive boyfriend, even though they most definitely exist.

As time has gone on, being called psycho or insane has become humiliating castration for men. Take Norman Bates, the subject of Psycho: he dressed up as his mother. Think of the "psycho" men that come to mind. They usually appear in the form of serial killers who have strange sexual frustrations, cannot perform as "normal" men do, and have an abiding hatred for womankind because of past emasculating experiences that make them want to assert masculine dominance. It originates from being associated with a weaker gender. It becomes menacing in the attempt to prove they are more powerful than the weaker gender. Both the feminized and over-masculinized versions of male insanity are always in relation to society's idea of female insanity--they are always in relation to being seen as "weak" or "womanly."

Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates.

Here is where we can do something to change this narrative. No, this does not mean that we should call men and women "psycho"--or other related terms--equally. We can expand our vocabulary. We can choose words that don't hail from a condescending position that degrade the subject to be less than human. We can choose words that don't have such a sexist past. We especially can choose to stop using offensive terms for mental illness to frequently describe women. Whether she suffers from a mental illness or not, no woman should be described in such degrading terms as a "psycho girlfriend." No one should be described as "psycho" at all.  Who are we to assume another person's mental state? Instead of diagnosing others (male or female) with misogynistic and animalistic illnesses, we can learn to get to know others, their background, and the potential mental suffering they have had to endure (male or female).

Valentina Cervia as Bertha Mason Rochester.

Hopefully, this could give some insight into one of the many reasons using these terms regarding mental illness can be harmful. Words have power. Words come with their own history and origins, despite our own good intentions. If we choose to use words that come from a more accurate and compassionate background, they in turn will inspire more accuracy and compassion in our actions with and perceptions of others.

Regardless of your gender identity, mental illness affects all sorts of people from all sorts of walks of life. It is not just being overly emotional. The illnesses and feelings associated with them are completely valid. Let us be kind to ourselves as we suffer. Let us be empathetic to others as they suffer.





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