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crazy, diagnosis, language, las vegas, mental illness, mentally ill, schizophrenia], Trump, words
I have schizophrenia but in no way am I crazy, unless you want to say, that I am crazy for my husband or crazy for sweet potatoes. That is a fairly common, but not derogatory use of the word. There are so many uses of the word crazy that it is difficult to think of the word as a slur against those of us with a mental illness. In fact, in most cases, the way most people use the word, it isn’t a slur, it is simply a common word that gets used a lot.
Today I mean it as a slur though. Once again, I will say, I have schizophrenia, but I’m not crazy. Crazy is what the man in Las Vegas did today. That is out of this world, crazy. Apparently, they can’t find a history of a mental health issue with him. But what I’m saying is that doesn’t matter. People with a mental illness are not necessarily crazy, and people with no mental illness can be crazy. He is the latter. His actions are the epitome of the word crazy. That man was not sane: Sitting in a hotel room armed for combat and taking aim at innocent people enjoying a concert is crazy (along with horrific).
I’ve been thinking about the use of words since Trump started running for president. For over a year, people have been throwing around diagnosis after diagnosis of Trump. As a mental health advocate, diagnosing public figures bothers me. It took over ten years for doctors to give me the proper diagnosis. It isn’t a hard science, or should I say it is a hard science – it is extremely difficult to diagnose some people and some illnesses.
People have claimed that Trump is a Psychopath. I have read that he is a Narcissist. I have read that he is a Malignant Narcissist. There are probably a few other mental illnesses that he has been diagnosed with by op-ed writers, psychiatrists, psychologists, and lay people. I don’t know why so many people are so eager to give a diagnosis to Trump.
What will a diagnosis do to change anything? Will it make him tweet less about North Korea, putting us all at risk of a nuclear war? Will it change the way you see him? Will it change the way I see him? More importantly, will it change the way Congress sees him? Obviously, many people think Trump is crazy. But crazy does not equal mental illness. That was proved in Las Vegas today. Someone can be crazy and not diagnosably mentally ill. I don’t know if Trump has a mental illness. I am not qualified to say, and neither are most of the people diagnosing him. If you want, you can say he is crazy, though. That is something separate and different from mentally ill.
I don’t identify with the word crazy. I am mentally ill, but the word crazy doesn’t apply to me.
Fantastic Post!!!
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Thank you!
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Thank you for this!
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Thank you for reading it and being a part of this community!
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Great post … ! You are a person and a human being . Thank you.
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Thank you!
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I’m slightly different I embrace the word crazy, it does not define me anymore than I am my mental health, but it is part of me. What does drive me to despair is when these tragedies happen and suddenly the person must of had a mental health problem, before anything has been revealed. He must be mental to do that, we are so keen to label people more now than any other time, someone just can’t be an arsehole, they must have something wrong with them
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I agree! People always start talking mental illness after a shooting. It is such a harmful stereotype.
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I do turn around and say lets call them an arsehole before assuming anything else. There is so many different sterotypes that people with mental health are still fighting, saying the reason why these people kill people is because of mental health is just making the situation worse
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Yes – the stereotypes are awful.
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I couldn’t agree more! Time to work to end the stereotypes and the stigma.Just because i have schizophrenia does not mean i’m crazy.I am not trying to hurt anyone else.We all have things we love and don’t like.Like sweet potatoes for instance.Grin.
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Thanks, Michelle!
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I’m so glad you’re posting more often again. I love reading your blogs and what you are thinking about.
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Thank you! xoxoxo
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This is part of what I’m basing my writing project “9 Ways to Normal’ on. Just because you’re diagnosed with a mental illness does not mean you’re crazy. It just means you have a different normal than other people. Thank you for posting this. As somebody diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, this is encouraging. 🙂
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I hope you share your writing project so I can read it!
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Wow, thank you so much for sharing your story so honestly. Mental illness is still so stigmatized in society and we need people like you willing to speak about it to help dispel these myths about mental illness. I am a neuroscience graduate student and study schizophrenia and interact with patients on a regular basis. I would never label a single one of them as crazy. In contrast, I would say that I have been some interesting and pretty amazing people through this work. Thank you again for posting this. Wish you all the best – speak766
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Thanks for your comment and for reading my blog!
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