Choose Your Language Carefully to Help Reduce Mental Health Stigma

A call to action for all of us

We can all reduce the stigma associated with mental health difficulties and addictions by carefully choosing the words we use.

But why is this important?

Research shows us that stigma — a negative attitude toward someone based on a particular characteristic — contributes to poorer health outcomes. Essentially, the way we view mental health and addictions can impact someone’s recovery.

Language is a form of communication that shapes our beliefs and thoughts and can therefore lead to assumptions. For example, someone who has psychosis may often be referred to as ‘psychotic’ — this leads to an assumption this person is harmful or that we should stay away from them. As our attitudes are shaped by language, altering how we speak about mental health and addiction is vital to help us adopt an open, understanding and compassionate approach to mental health and addiction.

It’s been a pleasure to see people talking openly about their mental health and/or addiction. Initiatives are being rolled out to help reduce this stigma too.

But sadly, this language is still seen in society, healthcare and in science. And it’s our role to change it — to help break down these negative assumptions and to reduce this stigma so widely seen.

An Important Dissection Of Stigma’s Impact

From feeling ashamed to impacting someone's willingness to seek treatment, stigma affects people in loads of ways.

One study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology found individuals experiencing alcohol use disorder, were less likely to seek help if they perceived higher stigma compared to individuals who perceived less stigma towards their alcohol use disorder.

Stigma can also lead to self-stigma — where a person becomes aware of public stigma and therefore agrees with these stereotypes and internalises them — this can also stop people from seeking treatment too. In 2016, researchers found individuals who experienced self-stigma were far less likely to seek mental health and counselling information.

The language we use is an important contributor to our attitudes too.

A study found if individuals were described as a “substance abuser,” doctoral-level clinicians in mental health were more likely to favour a jail sentence for these individuals, compared to if they were described as having a “substance use disorder.” Treatment was seen as a favourable outcome if people were described as having a “substance use disorder.” This similar finding has been found in other studies and other groups of people too.

A simple switch in language from “substance abuser” to “substance use disorder” can have a significant impact on how we view an addiction or mental health.

If we use language to describe mental health difficulties or addiction in a more compassionate way, it can help reduce negative attitudes to mental health and addiction. This can have a massive impact on people's willingness to seek treatment, adhere to treatment and not feel ashamed by their experiences.

It’s down to us all to do this!

What Language Should We Use?

Language is always changing and some people may not agree with certain terms.

However, in a recent research paper published in July 2021, the writers argue “researchers, clinicians, and others who interact with or communicate about mental and substance use disorders are encouraged to replace potentially stigmatising terms and labels with neutral, person-centred language.”

Person-centred language recognises that the difficulty someone experiences is not a defining characteristic — it’s simply one aspect of that person’s life.

The researchers in this paper provide several examples which we can all adopt. For example, people should not be described as “schizophrenic” or “psychotic” rather someone can be described as “a person with schizophrenia” or “a person with psychosis.”

Other examples include someone being described as having “an addition or substance use disorder” rather than an “addict.” Or referring to someone as being “a person with an alcohol use disorder” rather than an “alcoholic.” Alternatively, there are arguments to not even ‘label’ someone because what they’re going through is simply their experiences — and we all face ups and downs in life.

Even changes in asking people about their mental health and/or addiction need to change. Instead of asking “what’s wrong?” which implies something is wrong and needs to be corrected, we can ask, “so tell me about your experiences?”

Adapting our language in this way encourages us to change our negative attitudes towards mental health and addiction. This person-centred language signifies a more compassionate approach, which removes negativity associated with these previous terms used.

We can always do small things to help reduce stigma. Whether that’s reading a person’s story about their mental health journey. Whether it’s listening to someone when they’re having a difficult time. Or even if it’s educating ourselves about mental health/addiction. These small things can accumulate to have a bigger impact in tackling stigma. And, changing our language is one small way to do this too.

Final Comments

Stigma accounts for a variety of negative consequences. That could be making us feel worse, having a financial cost, stopping people from obtaining treatment or sticking to their treatment — it always results in a setback.

We can all do something to reduce the stigma — after all, we’re the ones that create it.

The language we use, as healthcare professionals, researchers and the general community is a massive contributor to this stigma. Language is what shapes our attitudes. So changing the specific terminology we use can have a massive impact — research has even shown this in clinicians!

I encourage us all to do our bit. Be mindful of the language you use when talking about mental health and addiction.