Language evolves

[breakinglight11]

I am a person who lives with mental illness. That has been clear since I was about nineteen years old, and has been a significant problem in my life on and off for the intervening time. The name of the illness and even the number I have has been disagreed upon by various parties in a position to offer an opinion— I've heard anywhere between one and four, and a corresponding range of diagnoses— but the one that's pretty indisputable is the moderate depression that has waxed and waned throughout my adult life. It's been a big enough and constant enough presence for me that I very much feel the daily reality that is being mentally ill.

I know it's common among other mentally ill folks to object to the use of the word "crazy." It's been dismissed by those people as offensive, even ableist. But I have never felt that way, and honestly do not even feel like the way most people use "crazy" refers at all to the symptoms of mental illness. It's much more a synonym for "absurd." People bust it out when they can't see how something could possibly have logically happened, when someone or something is unreasonable, ridiculous. Even when people call each other crazy, I don't feel like they're often actually implying that they think the person is mentally ill— instead, as stated above, being beyond reason or absurd. As someone whose life and behavior are definitely impacted by mental illness, I really feel as if the language has evolved here away from the original meaning the word may have had.

Now I admit I may not have the kind of conditions that inspire people to call you that word. I am highly functional even during severe attacks. Maybe if I had a personality disorder or something that caused more extreme behavior that I could not cope with as well, I would feel differently. But my illness definitely impacts the way I perceive the world and the choices I make in reacting to it. It's a very present part of my life. So I kind of resent the idea that my situation is not "real" or "serious" enough to have an opinion on this. I know I can't speak for every mentally ill person, and other people can decide what's acceptable to themselves. But as far as I'm concerned, it's a word that refers to something else because of the way the language usage has changed over time.

Comments

[someonefromthewater]

It's complicated.

South Park made a similar argument in "The F Word" (where the kids used the word "fag" to complain about loud and obnoxious people, but didn't have a problem with being gay). The problem is that the word "fag" still gets used as hate speech against queer people, or to justify abuse ("God Hates Fags", etc.) So you shouldn't throw the word "fag" around casually, even if you're not trying to be homophobic.

The word "crazy" is... most definitely an slur against the insane (as in, "mental illness of such a severe nature that a person can't distinguish fantasy from reality"). It gets used to justify abuse against people in psychiatric facilities, or people with a history of mental illness. So politicians talk about "crazy people", and policy changes in ways that cause real harm. It's happening right now, with the Florida school shooting ("we don't need gun control, we just need to lock up the crazies!").

It's kind of a mess. This isn't part of everyday life for most people (even most people with mental illness), but it's a real thing, and real problem.

[breakinglight11]

Yeah, you're definitely right. I do feel like if somebody describes an absurd, unreasonable thing as "crazy" they are using it in a genuinely different sense than the politicians you cite. But you absolutely have a point that it is used in the latter sense to harm people with mental illness. I apologize if I'm minimizing the issue here.

[lillibet]

People finding particular words problematic is often tricky. I have pretty much determined that when someone tells me that they, and possibly others, are bothered by a word, then it is more worth my time to make other choices (English being such a marvelously robust language as to always offer more choices) than to defend my right to make them uncomfortable.

I am doing pretty well with "crazy," I think. I recommend "zany" (a fun word that preserves the great "z" flavor) and "wacky" as words that the objectors don't seem to mind. Right now I'm struggling to find better words than "lame". But I'll get there.